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Pitch Perfect 3 Will Have More Explosions Than Any Other A Cappella Movie So Far

The trailer for Pitch Perfect 3 was released on Saturday, and it looks like not even graduating from college can save the members of the fictional a cappella group the Bellas from their dark musical pasts. Nor, it seems, can they be saved from exploding boats: The trailer prominently features stars Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick flying in slow motion away from a blast that would fit in just fine in Transformers: The Last Knight. The unusually high-octane action seems fitting for this installment, however, as the Bellas face off against their worst nightmare: a group, led by new addition Ruby Rose, that writes its own songs and then plays them on musical instruments. Even if the premise is more paper-thin than usual—“Every year the USO puts on this performance to support the troops in Europe!”—Rose is a formidable villainess and should be a good foil for the ultra-nerdy Bellas.

The main question any new Pitch Perfect film has to answer, however, is whether the series has abandoned its alarming dedication to making fat jokes at Rebel Wilson’s expense. On the evidence of the trailer, the answer is, “Not even a little bit.” Wilson jokes about changing her name to “Obesity” while wearing a red “MAKE AMERICA EAT AGAIN” hat. On the other hand, Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins are returning to reprise their roles as “twin Fred Willards from Best in Show,” and there’s no such thing as too many Fred Willards from Best in Show. Banks directed Pitch Perfect 2 but is handing directing duties off to Trish Sie this time around; Sie made her name with OK Go’s ingenious “Here It Goes Again” video, so the choreography should be fun. The script, as with earlier installments, is from 30 Rock veteran Kay Cannon, who has by now strayed pretty far from Mickey Rapkin’s nonfiction book about collegiate a cappella competitions. Will the latest episode in the Pitch Perfect saga soar, or will it be another aca-disappointment? A cappella–loving Americans can aca-find out on aca-Dec. 22.