Pitch Perfect 3 Review: 3 Ups & 6 Downs

5. The Music Competition Is Terrible

One of the best things about the first two movies is how well they sell the spirit of competition, with the Bellas typically facing off against teams who are more flashy and talented than they are, to the point that many fans were actively irritated when the Bellas defeated the easily superior Das Sound Machine in the last film.

Well, Pitch Perfect 3 mostly ditches the competition aspect, with the Bellas joining a USO tour, where they nevertheless find themselves competing to outdo a number of musical acts which have the clear advantage of, you know, actual musical instruments.

Sadly, there's not really anything at stake (even for the standards of this series) and the competitive aspect is forgotten about long before the final musical rendition takes place. Neither the Bellas nor any of their opponents put on particularly memorable displays, especially compared to some of the more riveting performances from the first two films.