Bad news for all the a capella fans in the audience: Pitch Perfect 3 is the series' worst movie yet. Before the first entry hit theaters in 2012, it's hard to imagine that a single person on Earth predicted that Pitch Perfect would become a franchise. But the surprisingly clever comedy that could ended up banking $115 million along with some glowing reviews. And thus, a sequel was born. 2015's Pitch Perfect 2 wasn't quite as sharp as the original, but it proved to be an even bigger hit regardless, racking up a staggering $287 million worldwide. The sequel currently ranks as the highest grossing musical comedy of all time. So of course they made a third one.
Unfortunately for this underdog franchise, Pitch Perfect 3 stands as a prime example of a threequel that shouldn't have been attempted. The movie appears destined to go down as an indisputable example of studio greed at it's finest -- and little else. Critics are understandably tearing into the latest aca-offering from screenwriter Kay Cannon, who presumably ran out of ideas but not out of bills to pay. Returning alongside Cannon in this stinker are series headliners Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson. The latter does her best with what she's given (which isn't much), while the former seems to be sleepwalking her way through the whole thing. The premise has become well-worn and the plot stretched too thin, while the character work simply isn't up to snuff. In other words, it's basically every comedy threequel ever.
Related: Pitch Perfect 3 Review - The Trilogy Ends With an Aca-Whimper
We're not going to bother with a plot summary outside of "the band gets back together", because that's not why you're here. You're here to check out the brutal reviews! Get ready for more aca-themed puns as we dive into The Most Brutal Reviews Of Pitch Perfect 3.
[Kay] Cannon and [Mike] White’s script is a garbage heap you’ll want to set on fire ... Maybe not since Rambo aided the Mujahadeen, or the MATRIX got tangled up in a bunch of loose threads, have we seen a more troublesome trilogy. PITCH PERFECT 3 is a joyless slog, whereas the other two in this franchise exhibited a modicum of carefree fun. They can only hit the high notes for so long. -- Fresh Fiction
The show’s over. We’re pitched out. Aca-exit stage left. -- USA Today
I hated Pitch Perfect 3. My sister-in-law, a "civilian" who I took to the press screening specifically because she's a die-hard fan of the series, hated Pitch Perfect 3. Pitch Perfect 3 seems to hate itself. If you love this series, it's best to pretend that this installment didn't happen, like the ninth season of Scrubs or whichever Alien or Halloween sequels you choose not to count. To paraphrase the other big generational passing-of-the-torch sequel now in theaters, it's time for Pitch Perfect to aca-end. -- Forbes
Whatever charms the first two movies possessed have been thoroughly lost in this soulless installment ... What started out as a charmingly offbeat comic premise has inevitably degenerated into the sort of crass commercialism that probably would make the Bellas themselves turn up their noses. -- THR
The Bellas aren’t invested in the film’s competition, and the filmmakers’ aren’t invested in it, and you probably won’t be, either. So why bother even having one? Why make a sequel whose climax is everyone realizing that they’d rather not do this anymore? -- Village Voice
Everything feels so lazy, so ill-conceived and so, so boring. There’s none of the charm which made its predecessors lightly enjoyable comic outings. The jokes don’t land, the cliches stack up, and it doesn’t do any justice to its charming cast. -- Little White Lies
Pitch Perfect 3 is so bad that it’s hard to comprehend how it even exists. I feel like the team at Universal were grasping at straws trying to paste together a plot that doesn’t even understand the film’s characters and why people like these films in the first place. Pitch Perfect 3 is a lazy cash grab and one that is to be avoided at all costs. It is one of the worst films of the year and isn’t worth your time or your money. -- We Live Entertainment
The new third entry in the series isn’t interested in character development or logical storylines or anything resembling innovation. It’s lazy and limp and profoundly weird, and not in any meaningful way a “good movie.” ... Pitch Perfect 3 is basically begging us not to ask for a fourth installment. I think it’s best we oblige. -- Vox
The Barden Bellas don’t go out on a winning note. The movie is tone-deaf. The characters are off-Pitch. It’s not over until Fat Amy sings, and she does! Pick any music pun, and the disappointing result is the same. A-ca brutal truth time: Pitch Perfect should have been a self-contained one and done. -- US Weekly