Pitch Perfect is the 101st episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Erica Russell, and Andy Signore. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 2012 comedy film Pitch Perfect. The video was published on May 12, 2015, to coincide with the theatrical release of the film's sequel Pitch Perfect 2. It is 3 minutes and 58 seconds long. It has been viewed over 8.6 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - Pitch Perfect on YouTube
"Laugh along with some surprisingly funny moments, then cringe at a script so aca-full of forced-in aca-puns, you'll want to aca-punch someone in the face." ~ Honest Trailers - Pitch Perfect
Script[]
In the grand tradition of the Carmen Sandiego theme song, that Pentatonix video, and the Police Academy guy (Michael Winslow) comes the best film of all time about making noises with your mouth: Pitch Perfect.
Meet Beca, a snarky, pretentious wannabe DJ who hates her dad for paying her tuition, hates this cute guy (Jesse) for flirting with her, hates these girls (Aubrey and Chloe) for asking her to join their club, hates her job for making her do any work, and hates movies...all of them.
She'll be pressured into joining the Barden Bellas, a down-on-its-luck a cappella group full of one-dimensional stereotypes, like the slut (Stacie), the lesbian (Cynthia-Rose), the mean girl (Aubrey), the kooky foreigner (Lilly), and the fat one (Fat Amy). But if you think it's mean-spirited and lazy to laugh at a girl for being fat, don't worry; she does it to herself, so it's totally okay.
Chloe: What's your name?
Fat Amy: Fat Amy...Feel the fat power!...I'm doing horizontal running...I'm gonna finish you like a cheesecake!...Don't put me down for cardio...My real name is Fat Patricia.
Get it? She's fat, heh heh.
Travel to a fantasy version of college where everyone gets giant, luxurious dorm rooms and no one goes to class, where the students actually like and respect a cappella groups; singing a cappella leads to fame and success; and a cappella is so popular, it sells out giant venues, with two full-time commentators, four judges, and an audience of people who are losing their sh*t just to be there. You know what would make this show better? Instruments.
So laugh along with some surprisingly funny moments, then cringe at a script so a ca-full of forced-in a ca-puns, you'll want to a ca-punch someone in the face.
John Smith: Get rid of all the a ca-politics.
Aubrey: My fellow a ca-people.
Jesse: Then we're gonna have a ca-children.
Aubrey: Hands in, a ca-bitches!
Fat Amy: Aca-believe it!
Aubrey: Aca-huddle, now!
Chloe: Aca-awesome.
Aubrey: Aca-scuse me? (repeated three times)
Fat Amy: Aca-awkward.
Aca-nough! Aca-stop it! Aca-great, you've got me aca-doing it. Aca.
Aca-starring...I mean, Starring Anna Kendrick Lamar (Anna Kendrick as Beca Mitchell), The Exorcist (Anna Camp as Aubrey Posen), The Guy Your Girlfriend Likes (Skylar Astin as Jesse Swanson), The Guy Your Boyfriend Likes (Adam DeVine as Bumper Allen), Brick Tamland (Hana Mae Lee as Lilly Onakuramara), Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks as Gail Abernathy-McKadden), Christopher Guest-Star (John Michael Higgins as John Smith), and Reblissa Wilcarthy (Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy).
Honest title for Pitch Perfect - Mean Gleeks. Title design by Robert Holtby.
Flula Borg: Ouch, that was so harsh, guys, but I will say it definitely could have used more Flula, no? Wait, didn't CinemaSins already do this video, like, a week ago? Pfft, tardy to the party, Screen Junkies. (shows a promo for CinemaSins vs. Screen Junkies on Movie Fights)
Trivia[]
- Screen Junkies have produced Honest Trailers for several other films about performers including La La Land, Magic Mike, 8 Mile, Showgirls and The Greatest Showman. See list of Honest Trailers for more.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception []
Honest Trailers - Pitch Perfect has an 98.5% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Hello Giggles said the Honest Trailer was "aca-mazing" and "aca-awesome." Cosmopolitan said the Honest Trailer was "aca-everything." CinemaBlend wrote "if you can’t stand anyone aca-attacking your favorite a capella comedy, then you might want to aca-accelerate it on out of here....The video takes issue with a number of points, including the fact that virtually every character, from the a capella podcasters to various group members, needlessly add "aca-" onto everything. Now we’re all inadvertently doing it, too."
Bustle said the video's criticisms were "spot-on." Hello Giggles also wrote "Screen Junkies calls out Beca (played by Anna Kendrick) for her bad attitude, and then the somewhat one-dimensional nature of each of the other Barden Bellas....Perhaps most notably, the trailer also points out some of the cheap jokes in the film." Seventeen said the Honest Trailer was "hilarious" and "might make you rethink how aca-awesome" the film is. In the same article, Seventeen also wrote that the way the Honest Trailer "points out what a downer Becca could be, how one dimensional each Barden Bella is, and how many times they added 'aca' to the front of words is actually pretty aca-annoying." Radio Times wrote that the Honest Trailer was "a little harsh – we’d totally go to a giant a capella concert, so it’s not that unrealistic, and the side characters have AT LEAST two dimensions."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Pitch Perfect
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Erica Russell & Andy Signore
Edited by Dan Murrell
External links []
- 7 Realizations 'Pitch Perfect's Honest Trailer Will Cause You To Have About The Movie, Like How Many Aca-Jokes They Make — VIDEO - Bustle article
- Pitch Perfect Gets Torn Apart In New Honest Trailer - CinemaBlend article
- Honest Trailers: ‘Pitch Perfect’ (Video) - Geeks of Doom article
- 'Pitch Perfect' just got the Honest Trailer treatment. Yes, it's aca-mazing. - Hello Giggles article
- Here's Proof That Pitch Perfect Totally Overuses the 'Aca' Joke - Time article
- New Honest Trailer Might Make You Rethink How Aca-Awesome "Pitch Perfect" Is - Seventeen article
- This Honest Trailer for "Pitch Perfect" Is Hilariously Spot-On - Cosmopolitan article
- Relive all the aca-puns in the Pitch Perfect Honest Trailer - Radio Times article