‘Pitch Perfect 3’ sends the franchise off with lots of laughs, great music

Posted on December 29, 2017

By MARK VIOLA

“Pitch Perfect” was one of the surprise hits of 2012, a witty comedy centered around intercollegiate a capella singing groups competing against each other for bragging rights and one big trophy. I didn’t see the movie during its original run, only jumping on this particular musical bandwagon months later on home video. It was just one of those movies that finds the right mix of absurdity and hilarity, delivering a massively entertaining experience.

Sadly, the 2015 sequel didn’t recreate the same balance, with the absurdity overshadowing the comedy, and while I still enjoyed it at times, it paled in comparison to the original. But now we have “Pitch Perfect 3” attempting to right the ship and send the franchise off on a high note, following in the footsteps of “Ocean’s 13,” “Despicable Me 3” and (sort of) “Cars 3.”

And fortunately, “Pitch Perfect 3” does exactly that, sending the Barden Bellas off on one last tour and one last competition, because, of course, there has to be a competition, right?

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