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Why make a successful movie if you can't eventually exhaust its resources986 Archives The third Pitch Perfectfilm releases on Friday, and the final song for the Barden Bellas is hardly as revolutionary as the 2012 original, but it's fine and fun if you lower your expectations.

For more on what critics thought of Pitch Perfect 3, read on.

SEE ALSO: The 'Pitch Perfect 3' trailer is trying to make 'Pitchmas' a thing and we just can't

How it all fits together

Simon Thompson, IGN:

This time a music contest, the core plot element of the first two Pitch Perfect movies, where the prize is to open for DJ Khaled, is more of a MacGuffin that has to share the spotlight. This time there’s a bizarre, and uncharacteristic for the franchise, secondary plot that involves the return of Fa[t] Amy’s long-lost father (John Lithgow), who has a murky past and an ulterior motive. On top of this there is everything from burgeoning romances to daddy issues as well as commentators John and Gail (John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks), who are back but totally wasted courtesy of a weak plot adjunct about a documentary.

Steve Rose, The Guardian:

It’s a testament to writer Kay Cannon (who wrote all three Pitch Perfects) and new director Trish Sie that all these random elements stay in tune with each other and everything wraps up neatly. The comedy rarely falters. There are choice one-liners (“we’re going to be clinging to you like mom jeans to a camel toe”), music-industry satire (DJ Khaled travels with a dedicated “juiceologist”, with his own portable beehive), and Rebel Wilson’s offbeat interjections, which are judiciously kept in control, though she’s unleashed in the inevitable action finale like a secret weapon.

Owen Glieberman, Variety:

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The new film doesn’t add anything revolutionary to the “Pitch Perfect” formula. It still sounds like we’re in middle-period “Glee” written by someone who finds Ryan Murphy too solemn. But as directed by Trish Sie, the movie is bubbly, it’s fast, it’s hella synthetic-clever, and it’s an avid showcase for the personalities of its stars: the skeptically pert Anna Kendrick, the radiant and vivacious Hailee Steinfeld, and the terrifyingly droll Rebel Wilson. All three deserve better movies but make the most of this one.

Three's a crowd

Mara Reinstein, Us Magazine:

The 2012 original is a delightful, extremely watchable battle-of-the-sexes comedy set against the backdrop of a college singing competition. We got total closure. Brilliant. The bigger-budget sequel, however, was a lazy, bloated miss. This third installment fares only slightly better. We still cheer for the congenial Bellas, but their journey has been stretched into a thin whimper.

Simon Thompson, IGN:

What starts off as a frosty face-off with promise sadly weakens and fizzles as the film progresses but that’s no fault of the actors - the narrative and the script just don’t allow it to be any other way. It’s still enjoyable enough but Pitch Perfect 3 just lacks the spark, sass and comedic or musical fizz we got previously despite the potential and the elements being there.

The Bellas and beyond

Elizabeth Donoghue, Den of Geek:

The Bellas are the strength of the movie once more, and are great fun; at this point you feel like you know them (apart from Jessica and Ashley of course) and the script plays up to what the audience expect and warm to about the characters. Anna Kendrick steadies the ship and drops the dry one liners, Anna Camp is manic and highly strung, Brittany Snow is charming as she continually yearns for her Bella glory days and Hailee Steinfeld is just adorable. But this is really Rebel Wilson’s film; she is ridiculous, hilarious and incredibly watchable.

Owen Glieberman, Variety:

John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks, now stepping back from her role as the director of “Pitch Perfect 2,” are on hand once again as the play-by-play commentators John and Gail, who are making an inept documentary film, and their whippersnapper repartee is funnier than anything in the last two Christopher Guest films. As for Kendrick, she holds the picture together with her airy diligence. It’s hard not to love John Lithgow but here he’s sadly wasted, as is Ruby Rose who, as always, has a strong presence every time she’s on screen. The appearance of DJ Khaled works now but will likely work against the movie down the line – he’s so much of a pop culture zeitgeist right now that it’ll likely mean the film doesn’t age well.

Mara Reinstein, Us Magazine:

The success of Girls Tripproves that there’s a market for a comedy romp in which girlfriends hit the road and participate in wacky hijinks. But the humor needs to an element of surprise and freshness. Wilson doing the Wilson thing isn’t an instant laugh generator just because she has a knack for physical comedy and hurls easy insults to Steinfeld’s Emily about her intelligence. And with all respect to the ladies, half the fun of Pitch Perfectwas reveling in the dynamic between the endearingly cocky all-male Trebles and the Bellas. Now Bumper (Adam DeVine) and Jesse (Skylar Astin) have been written out of the story in a single sentence. They’re missed.

Pitch Perfect 3 is in theaters Dec. 22.

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