The Correct Order To Watch The Pitch Perfect Movies

You haven't seen the "Pitch Perfect" movies? A-ca-scuse me? That's a reference you'll get when you finally sit down to watch the 2012 comedy set in the world of competitive college a cappella. For the uninitiated, that means making music without the assistance of instruments. It all comes from their mouths! 

Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick ("Up in the Air") stars in "Pitch Perfect" as Beca Mitchell, an aspiring DJ who has reluctantly enrolled at Barden University, where her father works as a professor and desperately pushes her to venture out of her comfort zone and actually have what he considers a meaningful college experience. If she still hates it, then he'll let her go to California to follow her DJ dreams. 

While at Barden, Beca ends up being recruited by the Barden Bellas, the university's all-female a cappella group led by Aubrey Posen (Anna Camp) and Chloe Beale (Brittany Snow), which is fresh off a humiliating loss to Barden's all-male a cappella group, the Barden Treblemakers, led by the cocky Bumper Allen (Adam DeVine). To make matters worse, the Barden Bellas lost because Aubrey projectile vomited during her big solo. The stage is set for a juicy rivalry, fueled by catchy a cappella renditions of popular songs and a clever script that is infinitely funnier than you might have anticipated. The sequels set up even more a cappella rivalries and competitions with the world of the film getting bigger and more absurd.

With just three movies (and a spin-off streaming series) in the "Pitch Perfect" franchise, sorting out where to begin isn't very difficult. However, we still have some more specific guidance for what might be the most satisfying a-ca-experience for those diving into the film series. 

Let me be blunt: "Pitch Perfect" is the only good movie in the entire franchise, and it should have ended there. Director Jason Moore and writer Kay Cannon already overcame the odds by delivering a hilarious a cappella centric film that was leaps and bounds better than "Glee," the successful FOX musical comedy series that many felt it was trying to capitalize on at the time. It's genuinely funny and comes with a superb soundtrack. Frankly, it's better than it had any right to be, and the sequels prove that it was aca-lightning in a bottle that couldn't be captured twice. 

While some of the competitive a cappella sequences are entertaining to hear and see, especially when it comes to the "Pitch Perfect 2" rivals Das Sound Machine, the first sequel always feels like it's unsuccessfully trying to recreate the magic of great scenes from the original. A secret riff-off led by David Cross and involving the Green Bay Packers for some inexplicable reason simply can't shake a stick at the original college riff-off from the first movie. Furthermore, the Barden Bellas don't even deserve to win the World Championship in the end, as they're outshined in every way by Das Sound Machine. I mean, just look at this:

Don't let that cool clip trick you into watching the sequels. If you feel compelled, just watch the a cappella scenes from the sequels on their own. Because by the time we get to "Pitch Perfect 3," we've lost any of the appeal that might have lingered from the first movie, and it completely wastes the addition of Hailee Steinfeld. The a cappella sequences feel totally contrived, and the soundtrack doesn't even make up for the movie's massive missteps. It turns into an exaggerated action comedy that might have been envisioned as a charming revival of 1980s movies that once utilized similar formulas to great success, but the script is a mess and doesn't come with any of the cleverness that made the original so funny. Kudos to Kay Cannon for trying (and Mike White for helping out with the second sequel) something different, but neither of these follow-ups are worth watching.