What is perhaps most surprising about
Alvin and the Chipmunks is that I found it watchable. After months of being subjected to the film's obnoxious ad campaign (and to make it even more annoying, its trailer was usually placed before a majority of the movies I've watched the past couple months), I was not exactly walking into the theater with high spirits. To my surprise, the movie does not offend. It's far too bland and sweet to offend. What we have here is a movie that is almost certain to delight children. The kids at my screening seemed to be having a ball. Accompanying adults will have a hard time sharing their enthusiasm, but at least they won't be staring at their watches for 90 minutes.
The Chipmunk characters were the brainchild of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., who took the bizarre idea of singing rodents, and turned it into a multi-million dollar empire that spanned for decades. It's almost shocking when the album covers of every Chipmunk recording ever made are displayed during the film's end credits, and you realize they span a course of over 50 years. I'd wonder what the world is coming to when an album called Chipmunk Punk is embraced by music listeners, but then I remember that I used to watch the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon inspired by the characters religiously as a kid. There is a definite charm to the characters, and the movie at least makes an effort to capture that charm. It does a better job at representing the characters than the ill-conceived
Garfield live action movies, that turned the fat cat from a dryly sarcastic feline to an obnoxious motor mouth who never shut up. Yes, there is some out of place toilet humor (such as the infamous fecal matter scene that was displayed in the very first trailer), but for the most part, the movie's heart is in the right place, and it manages to reach its target audience of the 10 and under crowd.
The film chronicles the rise to fame of the three Chipmunk brothers, which includes out-spoken Alvin (voice by Justin Long), brainy Simon (voice by Matthew Gray Gubler), and chubby mild-mannered Theodore (voice by Jesse McCartney). They start out as regular woodland creatures, who for some reason know how to talk, sing, and walk on their hind legs. The movie does not explore the notion if all the creatures of the forest are the same way. Their tree home is cut down to be used as a Christmas tree, where it is shipped off to the Jett Records office building with the Chipmunks in tow. It is there that they meet Dave Seville (Jason Lee), a man working in advertising who wants to be a song writer, but the head of the music company, Ian (David Cross), tells him his songs are no good. The Chipmunks stow away in a basket of muffins Dave has with him, which he doesn't realize until he unknowingly brings them inside his house, and they immediately start ransacking the place. Dave wants the little guys out of his place until he discovers they can sing. Realizing he's hit upon a musical gold mine, he starts a musical act with the Chipmunks singing his songs. The act becomes an overnight hit, and before long, Ian is banging down his door for a recording contract. Things get out of hand when the popularity of the group grows too quickly, and Ian sets about luring the young Chipmunks away from Dave with promises of money, fame, and expensive material possessions. As Ian starts working the poor creatures to the point of exhaustion during an extensive world tour and merchandising blitz, Dave has to figure out a way to get close to Alvin and his brothers, and let them know that they are like a family to him.
In updating the characters to the present day, director Tim Hill (
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties), and the screenplay by Jon Vitti (
The Simpsons Movie), along with screenwriting team Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi (
Snow Day, TV's
The Adventures of Pete and Pete), at least manage to pay homage to the characters. Those who still hold the Chipmunks close to their hearts will be delighted to learn that none of the characters have gone under any severe personality or attitude changes. There is a definite sweetness during the first half of the film, that details the growing bond between Dave and the three Chipmunk brothers. I may not have laughed, but I did smile a lot during these moments. Having written that, I feel I have to be honest. I did laugh at one point, and it's during a scene when we discover what a Chipmunk sounds like when his voice is under the influence of helium. Call me a sucker for an easy gag, but it worked with me. We get musical sequences devoted to the standard Chipmunk hits ("The Christmas Song", "Witch Doctor"), we get some cute antics from the little CG cartoon characters, and Jason Lee in the lead human role does about as well as can be expected, considering he has to spend most of his screen time with characters who weren't even on the set with him. There's a romantic subplot for Dave with a woman who lives next door (Cameron Richardson) that never really goes anywhere, but I was able to live with it. Mostly, I was just happy the movie wasn't turning out to be the flat-out stinker I had initially pegged it to be. At the very least, the movie seemed to be on solid ground.
Where the movie began to lose me is with the character of Ian, who acts as the main villain. It's not that he's not evil, and it's not that David Cross doesn't do a good job coming across as someone who is easy to hate. The problem is that he does too good of a job. There's something off-putting about seeing a malicious character being evil toward three little cute cartoon characters. I even started to feel uncomfortable a little during the scene where he picks up the Chipmunks by their tails, and throws them across the room. In fact, the movie's entire portrayal of the music industry in general is mishandled. It doesn't dig deep enough, and it seems to be afraid to be satirical. With how ridiculous egos have gotten in the music recording business, there's plenty of room for humor, and it misses almost every golden opportunity that comes its way. You'd think a movie about singing chipmunks would have a lot to do with music, but most of this part of the film has to do with the Ian character being cruel to them, and working them to the point that they literally collapse. I think a much more satirical and light-hearted approach would have been preferable to the sudden mean streak the movie develops later on. I probably wouldn't have minded so much if the villain didn't get some sort of payback at the end, but he gets off way too easy. Most of the film's other subplots are left hanging at the end, too. I can't tell if this should be interpreted as sloppy writing, or if it's a not so subtle hint from the Fox studio that more Chipmunk movies are on the way.
At the very least,
Alvin and the Chipmunks doesn't go so off course that I can't recommend it to viewers of a certain age. Anyone over the age of 13 can find better things to do with their time, and most likely will. Before I close this review, I want to bring up a point I find curious. What was the purpose of hiring celebrities like Justin Long to do the voices of the Chipmunks in the first place? Since their voices are sped up and completely unrecognizable, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of hiring famous voices? That, and the fact that their voices have been altered to sound like the original cartoon voices. Wouldn't it have been easier and cheaper to hire the voice talent from the 80s and early 90s cartoon series? Just seems to make more sense to me.
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What is perhaps most surprising about Alvin and the Chipmunks is that I found it watchable. After months of being subjected to the film's obnoxious ad campaign (and to make it even more annoying, its trailer was usually placed before a majority of the movies I've watched the past couple months), I was not exactly walking into the theater with high spirits. To my surprise, the movie does not offend. It's far too bland and sweet to offend. What we have here is a movie that is almost certain to delight children. The kids at my screening seemed to be having a ball. Accompanying adults will have a hard time sharing their enthusiasm, but at least they won't be staring at their watches for 90 minutes.
The Chipmunk characters were the brainchild of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., who took the bizarre idea of singing rodents, and turned it into a multi-million dollar empire that spanned for decades. It's almost shocking when the album covers of every Chipmunk recording ever made are displayed during the film's end credits, and you realize they span a course of over 50 years. I'd wonder what the world is coming to when an album called Chipmunk Punk is embraced by music listeners, but then I remember that I used to watch the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon inspired by the characters religiously as a kid. There is a definite charm to the characters, and the movie at least makes an effort to capture that charm. It does a better job at representing the characters than the ill-conceived Garfield live action movies, that turned the fat cat from a dryly sarcastic feline to an obnoxious motor mouth who never shut up. Yes, there is some out of place toilet humor (such as the infamous fecal matter scene that was displayed in the very first trailer), but for the most part, the movie's heart is in the right place, and it manages to reach its target audience of the 10 and under crowd.
The film chronicles the rise to fame of the three Chipmunk brothers, which includes out-spoken Alvin (voice by Justin Long), brainy Simon (voice by Matthew Gray Gubler), and chubby mild-mannered Theodore (voice by Jesse McCartney). They start out as regular woodland creatures, who for some reason know how to talk, sing, and walk on their hind legs. The movie does not explore the notion if all the creatures of the forest are the same way. Their tree home is cut down to be used as a Christmas tree, where it is shipped off to the Jett Records office building with the Chipmunks in tow. It is there that they meet Dave Seville (Jason Lee), a man working in advertising who wants to be a song writer, but the head of the music company, Ian (David Cross), tells him his songs are no good. The Chipmunks stow away in a basket of muffins Dave has with him, which he doesn't realize until he unknowingly brings them inside his house, and they immediately start ransacking the place. Dave wants the little guys out of his place until he discovers they can sing. Realizing he's hit upon a musical gold mine, he starts a musical act with the Chipmunks singing his songs. The act becomes an overnight hit, and before long, Ian is banging down his door for a recording contract. Things get out of hand when the popularity of the group grows too quickly, and Ian sets about luring the young Chipmunks away from Dave with promises of money, fame, and expensive material possessions. As Ian starts working the poor creatures to the point of exhaustion during an extensive world tour and merchandising blitz, Dave has to figure out a way to get close to Alvin and his brothers, and let them know that they are like a family to him.
In updating the characters to the present day, director Tim Hill (Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties), and the screenplay by Jon Vitti (The Simpsons Movie), along with screenwriting team Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi (Snow Day, TV's The Adventures of Pete and Pete), at least manage to pay homage to the characters. Those who still hold the Chipmunks close to their hearts will be delighted to learn that none of the characters have gone under any severe personality or attitude changes. There is a definite sweetness during the first half of the film, that details the growing bond between Dave and the three Chipmunk brothers. I may not have laughed, but I did smile a lot during these moments. Having written that, I feel I have to be honest. I did laugh at one point, and it's during a scene when we discover what a Chipmunk sounds like when his voice is under the influence of helium. Call me a sucker for an easy gag, but it worked with me. We get musical sequences devoted to the standard Chipmunk hits ("The Christmas Song", "Witch Doctor"), we get some cute antics from the little CG cartoon characters, and Jason Lee in the lead human role does about as well as can be expected, considering he has to spend most of his screen time with characters who weren't even on the set with him. There's a romantic subplot for Dave with a woman who lives next door (Cameron Richardson) that never really goes anywhere, but I was able to live with it. Mostly, I was just happy the movie wasn't turning out to be the flat-out stinker I had initially pegged it to be. At the very least, the movie seemed to be on solid ground.
Where the movie began to lose me is with the character of Ian, who acts as the main villain. It's not that he's not evil, and it's not that David Cross doesn't do a good job coming across as someone who is easy to hate. The problem is that he does too good of a job. There's something off-putting about seeing a malicious character being evil toward three little cute cartoon characters. I even started to feel uncomfortable a little during the scene where he picks up the Chipmunks by their tails, and throws them across the room. In fact, the movie's entire portrayal of the music industry in general is mishandled. It doesn't dig deep enough, and it seems to be afraid to be satirical. With how ridiculous egos have gotten in the music recording business, there's plenty of room for humor, and it misses almost every golden opportunity that comes its way. You'd think a movie about singing chipmunks would have a lot to do with music, but most of this part of the film has to do with the Ian character being cruel to them, and working them to the point that they literally collapse. I think a much more satirical and light-hearted approach would have been preferable to the sudden mean streak the movie develops later on. I probably wouldn't have minded so much if the villain didn't get some sort of payback at the end, but he gets off way too easy. Most of the film's other subplots are left hanging at the end, too. I can't tell if this should be interpreted as sloppy writing, or if it's a not so subtle hint from the Fox studio that more Chipmunk movies are on the way.
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