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Alvin and the Chipmunks (Blu-Ray Edition)
Date of Review: May 26, 2008
The Bottom Line: Alvin and the Chipmunks is good enough to keep you mildly entertained.
The Plot
Dave Seville is a frustrated music artist who constantly gets rejected from his old friend Ian Hawke's record label. So for now, while he still plans on continuing recording demo tapes for Ian, he works in advertising and makes a modest living. Meanwhile somewhere in a snowy pine forest, here lives three chipmunks that are capable of not only talking, but singing contemporary pop songs in perfect three-part harmony. The chipmunks are named Alvin, Theodore and Simon.
When some men come along to cut down the chipmunk s tree for an office lobby Christmas tree, the three chipmunks find themselves now living in NYC. The office lobby belongs to that of Ian's record company. On the day when Dave is last rejected by the label, the chipmunks sneak their way into Dave's muffin basket. Dave unknowingly brings the chipmunks home, and when he discovers the critters in his kitchen, his initial reaction is to destroy the vermin. Even when he discovers that these are talking chipmunks he still isn't in a mood to welcome them. Not until he hears them singing in perfect harmony does he consider to let them live at his house.
That night Dave writes The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late), and he demos the song with the Chipmunks and Ian goes nuts and signs Dave and the Chipmunks. Dave is unaware that he is becoming more of a father figure to Alvin, Simon and Theodore. Dave is becoming protective of them, and they in turn love Dave. Ian on the other hand wants to fill the schedule of the chipmunks in order to bring the act to the worldwide stage. When Ian realizes he can't get past Dave's protective umbrella, he sneakily turns the chipmunks against Dave. The Chipmunks move out and now live with Uncle Ian.
Will the Chipmunks be safe with Uncle Ian? Can Dave ever reconcile with the Chipmunks and be a family again? Will the Chipmunks be able to stay on top of the charts? Find out went you rent or buy Alvin and the Chipmunks.
My Thoughts
I really don't remember too much about Dave Seville from the cartoons, so I don't know how well Jason Lee (My Name is Earl, Dogma) had nailed the character. He was amiable enough, although I don't believe he sounded annoyed enough whenever he yelled, "Aallllvviiinn!". Jason Lee was in every scene in the first half of this film, but as soon as the Chipmunks moved out of his house, he was hardly seen again until the end.
David Cross (Arrested Development takes over the majority of the film's second half. David is usually very funny, yet he comes across more as annoying rather than funny here. He does have a handful of funny lines here, but his amplified one-dimensional personality is exaggerated for the kiddies, in order for the young viewers to feel justified by feeling "ok" that they hate someone on TV.
The Chipmunks were voiced by Jesse McCartney (Summerland, Kingdom Hearts 2) as Theodore, Matthew Gray Gubler (The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou) as Simon and Justin Long (Herbie Fully Loaded, Live Free or Die Hard) portrays Alvin. Of course their voices are not recognizable due to the high pitch special effect on their voices. Despite the fact that Jesse McCartney is a recording artist, he did not supply the singing voice for Alvin or any of the Chipmunks. Instead we have Ross Bagdasarian Jr. (son of the Chipmunks creator) as Alvin, there's Steve Vining (who also has a Chipmunk recording history) as Simon and Janice Karman (wife of Ross Bagdasarian Jr.) as Theodore s singing voice.
I did not love Alvin & The Chipmunks as much as other people, although I did like it a lot. There were some OK laughs, yet nothing hysterical. There were a couple of tender moments, but nothing that reflected the ample capacity for such scenes. I suppose that this sort of movie cannot get away from being so predictable. This was a family movie and it was about the beginning of a family between Dave and the three Chipmunks, but I didn't feel any noteworthy emotional connect. I guess I expected much more from this type of film. Having said that, I did enjoy myself, especially since I watched with a group of kids who just loved it. I recommend Alvin and the Chipmunks, yet for the adults, don't expect too much magic from this film.
Alvin & the Chipmunks
Directed by: Tim Hill (Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties)
Written by: John Vitti (The Simpsons Movie) and Will McRobb (Snow Day)
Released: December 2007 (USA)
Length: 92 minutes
Rated: PG
