Extra DVD

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Alexis Knapp, Kelley Jakle, Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, Flula Borg, John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Banks.

The Barden Bellas perform for President Obama and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) suffers a wardrobe malfunction during a Miley Cyrus-themed aerial routine. In the wake of Muffgate, commentators John Smith (John Michael Higgins) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden (Elizabeth Banks) cast the Bellas into the wilderness and mock Beca (Anna Kendrick) when she claims they can become the first American group to win the World A Cappella Championships.

Beca, Fat Amy, Chloe (Brittany Snow), Stacie (Alexis Knapp), Jessica (Kelley Jakle), Cynthia-Rose (Ester Dean), softly spoken beatboxer Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) and new recruits Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) and Flo (Chrissie Fit) prepare for musical battle. However, the path to glory in Copenhagen is blocked by well-drilled reigning champions, Das Sound Machine.

Lightning almost strikes twice in Pitch Perfect 2, a feel-great sequel that hits many of the high notes of the original film. Actress Elizabeth Banks nestles in the director’s chair and confidently conducts a choir of familiar faces through soaring musical mash-ups and pitch-slapping putdowns. Screenwriter Kay Cannon pads out her admittedly flimsy premise with parallel romantic subplots and introduces a Latin American exchange student, whose life-or-death heritage becomes a running joke that limps before the two hours are up.

Musical sequences are choreographed with verve, including a rousing finale that astutely goes back to acca-basics. Wilson is rewarded with the film’s only solo — Pat Benatar’s power ballad We Belong — that builds to a rousing call to arms for the broken-hearted.

A two-disc box set comprising Pitch Perfect and the sequel is also available.

Rating: 4/5

RELEASED

John Wick (Cert 15)

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Bridget Moynahan, Omer Barnea, Toby Leonard Moore.

Hit man John Wick (Keanu Reeves) holsters his weapons for good to marry his wife Helen (Bridget Moynahan).

Shortly after terminal illness upends the fairy tale, John receives a present from his late wife: an adorable beagle puppy called Daisy. The assassin comes to terms with his loss through his bond with the dog.

One night, Russian playboy Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) and his underlings (Omer Barnea, Toby Leonard Moore) break into John’s home, beat him to a pulp and kill Daisy.

This act of senseless brutality fuels John’s lust for revenge and he hunts down Iosef, ignoring the fact his target is the son of powerful mob boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist).

John dismisses Viggo’s pleas for leniency so the kingpin puts a 2 million US dollar bounty on the hitman’s head. John Wick is a blood-soaked action thriller laced with macabre humour, which recognises its strengths and plays to them. Reeves delivers one of his most compelling performances since The Matrix Trilogy in the title role, not that Derek Kolstad’s script asks a great deal of him. The actor’s restricted repertoire of facial expressions fits perfectly with his assassin’s grit and determination despite overwhelming odds, and Reeves is well-equipped for the physical demands of the balletic fight sequences.

Director Chad Stahelski, who is a stunt co-ordinator by trade, is understandably more comfortable with flying fists than zinging dialogue. The beagle puppy couldn’t be cuter and we’re completely behind Reeves’ grief-stricken owner as he razes entire establishments in honour of his fallen four-legged friend.

Rating: 3/5

Big Game (Cert 15)

Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Onni Tommila, Ray Stevenson, Mehmet Kurtulus, Jorma Tommila, Victor Garber, Ted Levine, Felicity Huffman, Jim Broadbent.

Oskari (Onni Tommila) is poised to turn 13 and must follow in the footsteps of his proud father Tapio (Jorma Tommila) by venturing into the wilderness alone to bring down a deer with his trusty bow and arrow. Within hours of embarking on his solitary quest, Oskari witnesses the crash of Air Force One and stumbles upon the escape pod of the US President, William Allen Moore (Samuel L Jackson).

It transpires that Hazar (Mehmet Kurtulus), the psychopathic illegitimate son of one of the richest sheikhs in the Gulf, has brought down the plane in order to hunt the most powerful western politician on the planet.

Meanwhile, in the Emergency Command and Control Vault, General Underwood (Ted Levine) co-ordinates a daring rescue with Vice President (Victor Garber), the Director of the CIA (Felicity Huffman) and a trusted presidential advisor (Jim Broadbent).

The testosterone-fuelled spirit of Sylvester Stallone’s 1993 blockbuster Cliffhanger is alive and exceedingly well in Big Game, albeit on a more modest budget.

Jalmari Helander’s muscular romp doesn’t take itself too seriously, including one spectacular set piece involving a household appliance tumbling down a mountainside.

The writer-director subverts the usual unabashed American patriotism and isn’t afraid to grant the bad guys their victories too. Onni Tommila brings a loveable vulnerability to his pint-sized hunter.

He strikes up a winning screen partnership with Jackson, who chews the snow-laden Scandinavian scenery with obvious relish as the leader of supposedly the most powerful nation on earth.

Supporting roles are played to the hilt including an obvious traitor in the presidential ranks.

Rating: 3/5