What You Need to Know Before Watching 'Pitch Perfect 3'

Pitch Perfect 3 picks up a few years after the highs of winning the world championships. (Das Sound Machine was robbed) The Bellas now find themselves split apart and discovering there aren’t many job prospects for making music with your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.

IS IT ANY GOOD? (GRADE: B-)

We get periodically get invited to screenings and I remember getting invited to the first Pitch Perfect film. I thought, “sure, I’ll go see some chick flick”. I was amazing at the experience. The movie was so much more than what I was expecting. Pitch Perfect 2 tried to repeat that formula and did a great job. So why not try it again!?

Pitch Perfect 3 is a solid addition to the franchise, but it certainly isn’t considered a grand finale. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed myself. Pitch Perfect 3 follows similar format to the previous installments. The film even makes some meta references to that past. In our third riff off in three movies the comment is made, “Why do we keep doing these? We never win!”

The comedy is top notch and I think a lot of that credit goes to Rebel Wilson who seems to be the main focus point for much of the story. The music gets a bit of a face lift with the rival music groups incorporating instruments into their performances.

If you are new to Pitch Perfect, you might want to watch the previous films as the rest of the characters do not get much development. Pitch Perfect 3 cannot be blamed for that though, because 1 & 2 did such a great job at establishing the ensemble. If you likes those films, you’ll enjoy Pitch Perfect 3.

IS IT OKAY FOR YOUR KIDS?

The content keeps on paces with the previous films in the Pitch Perfect franchise, more mild. The element of sexuality is expressed during some of the performances and a few adult themes are present. There are topics like divorce, abandonment, and unwed motherhood. One of the competing groups is called “Evermoist”, which certainly has a sexual connotation that is joked about. If you have issues with that word, you might be #Triggered.

As a PG-13 movie, the movie has some excrement and deity based profanity. If you saw the previous Pitch Perfect movies, you will not be surprised by the content. Those who are sensitive to profanity and sexual innuendo, you might want to wait for Pitch Perfect 3 to be available on VidAngel.

ANY WORTHWHILE MESSAGES?

One of the dominant themes in the Pitch Perfect series is sisterhood. The Bellas are more that just a performance group and you can see it in how their association carries over into their personal lives. These are some really important lessons to be learned as we look at the diversity of the Bellas. In the opening scenes of the first Pitch Perfect we see a version of the Bellas where all the members look the same, but are certainly not united. The next class of Bellas is extremely diverse, but they find that their differences bring them strength.

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President, quoted Sister Marjorie Hinckley in her talk Sisterhood: Oh, How We Need Each Other: “It is a sociological fact that women need women. We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other.” This principle is echoed in a video that the Church created that helps us understand that “We Don’t Need to Be the Same to Be One.”

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Grady Kerr

Grady Kerr writes for the blog This Mormon Life. There you can find more movie reviews, tips for gospel instructors, and Latter-day culture commentaries. His mission is to provide articles and videos to help you find joy in the journey. Grady is a simple man. He likes pretty dark-haired women and breakfast food. Grady lives in the East Valley of Arizona with his wife and 4 kids.