It’s finally here. Pitch Perfect 2 comes out in theaters today, and as someone who saw an advanced screening on Monday, I’m qualified to tell you that it lives up to the hype. I don’t care how sunny it is outside – get yourself to a theater.
Now, Here, I’ve ranked the best songs (and the let downs). Fair warning: there are a few spoilers ahead.
10. “Anyway You Want It”
In a cute tribute to real life a cappella groups, we see Pentatonix, The Filharmonic, and others represent different countries in a joint version of the Journey hit. While it was a nice nod, we would have liked to see more of the other groups, preferably singing a song that wasn’t done in the first season of Glee.
9. “Lollipop”
The Treblemakers gave some of the best performances in the first film, but they’re totally underused in the sequel. Their one song was cute, but it didn’t show us the “bad boys of a cappella” that they were in the first movie…besides their repeated singing of the line “suck it.” More Jesse, pretty please.
8. Car Show: “Uprising/Tsunami”
Our first look at Das Sound Machine does exactly what it does to the Bellas – intimidates. Their performance of a Muse song is on point, but those German accents are super distracting.
7. Das Sound Machine’s World Championship Final
If I wasn’t mentally booing DSM, I might have enjoyed their rendition of “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” mixed with “All I Do Is Win.” It was pretty explosive and impressive. But go Bellas.
6. “Cups (When I’m Gone)” (Campfire Version)
The harmonies were perfect. You could feel the nostalgia and girl bonding seeping from the screen. There was even a freakin’ campfire. But it was way, way too short.
5. “Winter Wonderland”
Once you recover from a surprise cameo from Snoop Dogg in a movie about college a cappella groups, this rendition of the Christmas classic will have you cry-laughing all over again. Snoop takes the song so seriously, and you just know the Snoop and Anna’s mashup will be inescapable come December.
4. “We Belong”
When you put two of the funniest comedians in movies today together singing an epic love ballad, it’s going to be great, but the staging of this performance makes it unforgettable. After Amy paddles across a giant lake, battles indecisive cars, and finally gets to her man, you’ll find it hard to breathe regularly because you’re laughing so hard.
3. Riff Off
A favorite of the first movie is not only back, it’s better. When comedian David Cross shows up as an eccentric millionaire who’s the self-proclaimed biggest a cappella fan in the world, you know the throw down is going to be epic. Categories like “I Dated John Mayer” and “Songs About Butts” fuel the fire, and if the Green Bay Packers singing “Bootylicious” doesn’t get you the number three spot, I don’t know what does.
2. Kennedy Center Performance
The sequel’s opening number is everything Pitch Perfect fans have been waiting years to see. With the Bellas performing for the Obamas (in a hilariously obvious stock-video cutaway), they riff through Icona Pop and Pitbull while wearing matching ensembles, twirling batons, and doing acrobatics. Well, until Fat Amy descends from the ceiling during a rendition of “Wrecking Ball,” and “Muffgate” ensues.
1. The Bellas’ World Championship Final
Bellas DELIVER in their final performance. Like, I seriously wanted to stand up in the theater and applaud. They open their big number at the championship with a snapping, clapping ode to the “Cups” routine. Next, it’s all about the girl power as they pay ode to Queen Bey with “Run the World,” which segues into “Where Them Girls At” and then a welcomed reprise of Fat Amy’s Benatar moment. Finishing up with “Flashlight” is totally predictable, but we’ll just forget that Glee totally used the “original song” storyline back in season 2 because this performance is adorable and deserves the top spot.
