Pitch Perfect [Blu-Ray]

In essence, structure, formula, language and even message, bastardized, a cappella, cinematic Glee variation Pitch Perfect is a straightforward remake of 2000 teen comedy Bring it On, substituting polished and heavily produced singing for polished and heavily produced cheerleading. In place of twirls, jumps, cartwheels and jazz hands are pop song mash-ups, pelvic thrusts and instrument-free variations of insipid mainstream pop tunes like Miley Cyrus's "Party in the U.S.A." and Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone." There's even a little Madonna and Salt-N-Pepa thrown in to reference, and appeal to, the demographic behind the camera. And while these song and dance routines take up a large portion of the runtime, adhering to the teamwork and regional competition format, the standard message of embracing change and thinking outside the box comes to fruition when surly, closed-off mash-up guru Beca (Anna Kendrick), a replica of Eliza Dushku's character from Bring it On, joins her campus a cappella group, the Barden Bellas, who failed regionals the year prior when leader Aubrey (Anna Camp) projectile vomited in the middle of Ace of Base's "The Sign" (presumably from listening to what she was singing). Taking a cue from The Bad News Bears and basically every underdog competition movie ever made, Beca, Aubrey and a ragtag team of idiosyncratic deliberateness, in the form of token black girls, overweight females, Asians and more work together to learn valuable lessons about the importance of keeping up with trends while singing really bad mainstream pop music. Everything about Pitch Perfect, right down to its glib "embrace difference by assimilating" message, is little more than a grotesque reiteration of the current cultural climate, wherein we instil the delusion of success via exaggerated performance and status quo reiteration to a younger generation. Although, ignoring the garish, glossy ignorance of it all, there's an abundance of hilarious one-liners and set-ups with Rebel Wilson, whose comic timing is impeccable as a highly talented but exceedingly awkward and occasionally tactless member of the all-girl singing group. Even trajectory gags about the mathematic likelihood of a member of the Bellas being a lesbian and Brittany Snow's candid, non-invasive confidence, holding down full conversations in the nude, establish the easy-going and exceedingly magnetic tone of this often funny comedy. It's just a shame that the clever one-liners and genuinely solid performances from most of the players involved are wasted on such grotesque, vacuous, regurgitated material. Still, in playing ignorant, there's some fun to be had as a passive spectator. Also fun are the behind-the-scenes supplements with Rebel Wilson and a commentary track with producer Elizabeth Banks, who has a similar propensity for comic timing. There are also deleted scenes, music videos and an abundance of improvised one-liners included with the Blu-Ray, adding some value to the package for home viewers.