PITCH PERFECT 2 (12)
4 stars
The Barden Bellas perform for President Obama and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) suffers a wardrobe malfunction during a Miley Cyrus-themed aerial routine.
In the wake of this, commentators John Smith (John Michael Higgins) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden (Elizabeth Banks) cast the Bellas into the wilderness and mock Beca (Anna Kendrick) when she claims they can become the first American group to win the World A Cappella Championships.
Beca, Fat Amy, Chloe (Brittany Snow), Stacie (Alexis Knapp), Jessica (Kelley Jakle), Cynthia-Rose (Ester Dean), softly spoken beatboxer Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) and new recruits Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) and Flo (Chrissie Fit) prepare for musical battle.
However, the path to glory in Copenhagen is blocked by well-drilled reigning champions, Das Sound Machine.
Lightning almost strikes twice in Pitch Perfect 2, a feel-great sequel that hits many of the high notes of the original film. Actress Elizabeth Banks nestles in the director’s chair and confidently conducts
a choir of familiar faces through soaring musical mash-ups and pitch-slapping putdowns.
Screenwriter Kay Cannon pads out her admittedly flimsy premise with parallel romantic subplots and introduces a Latin American exchange student whose life-or-death heritage becomes a running joke that limps before the two hours are up.
Musical sequences are choreographed with verve, including a rousing finale.
Wilson is rewarded with the film’s only solo – Pat Benatar’s power ballad We Belong – that builds to a rousing call to arms for the broken-hearted.
A two-disc box set comprising Pitch Perfect and the sequel is also available.
JOHN WICK (15)
3 stars
Hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) holsters his weapons for good to marry Helen (Bridget Moynahan). Shortly after, terminal illness upends the fairytale. John receives a present from his late wife: an adorable beagle puppy called Daisy. The assassin comes to terms with his loss through his bond with the dog.
One night, Russian playboy Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) and his underlings (Omer Barnea, Toby Leonard Moore) break into John’s home, beat him to a pulp and kill Daisy. This act of senseless brutality fuels John’s lust for revenge and he hunts down Iosef, ignoring the fact that his target is the son of powerful mob boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist). John dismisses Viggo’s pleas for leniency, so the kingpin puts a $2million bounty on the hitman’s head.
John Wick is a blood-soaked action thriller laced with macabre humour, which recognises its strengths and plays to them. Reeves delivers one of his most compelling performances since The Matrix Trilogy in the title role, not that Derek Kolstad’s script asks a great deal of him. The actor’s restricted repertoire of facial expressions fits perfectly with his assassin’s grit and determination despite overwhelming odds, and Reeves is well-equipped for the physical demands of the balletic fight sequences.
Director Chad Stahelski, who is a stunt co-ordinator by trade, is understandably more comfortable with flying fists than zinging dialogue.
The beagle puppy couldn’t be cuter and we’re completely behind the grief-stricken owner as he razes entire establishments in honour of his fallen four-legged friend.