Can you even spell A Cappella?

It’s a well-known fact that comedy sequels are tricky. For every occasional good one, there is a whole host of bad ones. Pitch Perfect was one of 2009 most surprising hits, making back its money in a big way and having one of the most downloaded soundtracks of the year.

With almost all of the original cast back, and Elizabeth Banks taking on the role of director after she produced the first one, does this film manage to not be a disappointment like so many sequels are? Well, kinda.

The Barden Bellas are back, three time ICCA champions and one of the most respected names in A Cappella.

As is to be expected this all goes horribly wrong fairly quickly and rather spectacularly at an event involving suspension from the ceiling, an American President and a lack of underwear.

Things go from bad to worse for the Bellas, now the laughing stock of the US, are banned from competing in the champions and recruiting new members.

Their only hope is win the World Championships, and competition that no American team has never won.

Because the world hates America. No, I’m not making some crude comment, this is literally a joke from the film.

Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins, who were spot on in the first film as the occasionally inappropriate commentators, take the humour way too far in this film, and it just becomes crass rather than amusing.

It’s also seen in one of the only two new Bellas that get any screen time.

Yes, she’s from Guatemala, but that doesn’t mean that literally every word out of her mouth needs to be about that fact.

Whilst there was a great chance to expand on the one dimensional characters from the first film, this one does just the opposite, making those characters seem even more flat and cliché.

The lesbian is the lesbian, the slut is the slut, the Latina is the Latina.

It’s just as bad with the new rivals in the film, the German team DSM. We meet them time and time again, but their characters never really do much. They’re the haughty attractive foreigners, and that’s all there really is to them.

It’s not all bad though. Though some of the film feels tired as they repeat popular scenes and scenarios from the first film, there is enough new content and original jokes that it still gets a lot of laughs.

Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy remains the star of the comedy, lightening up the script with her often bizarre improvisation.

What is possibly the best scene in the film involves her, a lake and the best make-out scene in recent cinema.

Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld playing Emily, the only character to really get any sort of development, is wonderful in her role.

She’s the bumbling, awkward, overly enthusiastic first year, that we probably all were, and far more relatable that Anna Kendrick’s Beca from the original film.

She’s the heart of the film, and her developing romance throughout the film is just delightful to watch.

The romance in general is dealt with well. Many sequels fall into the trap of not really knowing what to do, so throw in a bit of romantic tension and upset to bring in the audience desperate to see if they make up.

This film doesn’t do this, instead having Beca and Jesse in a happy relationship that gets barely any mentions other than a couple kisses and conversations.

It’s a far better way of doing it, and gives more screen time to more interesting things, like the budding romances this one has to offer.

The soundtrack gives out some great numbers, but it doesn’t quite live up to the first, and though this was a deliberate choice made by the creators of the film to show how the Bellas have lost their sound, it’s a bit of shame as the stellar soundtrack is what made Pitch Perfect such a hit.

Overall, it might not be aca-awesome, but at least it’s not an aca-disappointment.