Three years after winning the national championships, the Barden Bellas are the hottest a capella in the country. Invited to celebrate President Obama’s birthday, they end up creating a scandal that ruins their reputation and prevents them from appearing on stage ever again. Then their leader Beca Mitchell negotiates a solution: the sanction will be lifted if the Bellas win the world championships. A challenge that puts them up against serious candidates from all around the world…

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Pitch Perfect 2 is the quintessential failed sequel: less funny, less competent, less skilled and less charming. Ordered in the wake of the surprise success of the first, which was exceptionally likeable, the second installment is entirely calculating, with neither energy nor humor. The fault lies in terrible comic timing, an uneven script and musical numbers that are less than inspiring – an idiotic adventure that fails on all levels and ploughs ahead when it should stop to think. The latest Bella, played by Hailee Steinfeld, is useless, while Rebel Wilson, who has meanwhile become a comedy star, does cheap slapstick and the otherwise brilliant Anna Kendrick is wasted in a boring subplot. With a 3rd installment in the works, Pitch Perfect 2 at least offers a bit of good news: comedies carried by women (this is actress Elizabeth Banks’ directorial debut) and supported by audiences are proudly on the rise in the face of Hollywood sexism. A meager consolation.