Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Justin Long (voice), Matthew Gray Gubler (voice), Jesse McCartney (voice)
Written by Jon Vitti, Will McRobb & Chris Viscardi,
based on characters created by Ross Bagdasarian
Certification UK U | US PG
Runtime 90 minutes
Directed by Tim Hill
It's some 50 years since Ross Bagdasarian heard — we assume — a record played at the wrong speed and imagined that what he heard was singing chipmunks. Hmm. Well, perhaps the hallucinogens were a little more potent in those days. Anyway, after a scarily successful recording career and a long-running TV series, the chipmunks — mischievious lead singer Alvin (voiced, in helium-inhaling style, by Die Hard 4.0's Long), studious Simon (Gubler) and appealingly dumpy Theodore (McCartney) — finally hit the big screen in this actually quite enjoyable mix of live action and CGI.
Dave (Lee, amiable as always) is a down-on-his-luck songwriter desperate for a break. Old school friend and record exec Ian (Arrested Development's excellent Cross) keeps throwing him chances, but Dave's lack of organisation and his songs about death aren't quite the happening Timberlake-esque "choons" Ian's seeking. One small coincidence later, Dave finds himself sharing a house with three talking chipmunks who, he soon discovers, can also sing. In harmony. And beatbox. While there are some problems associated with chipmunk lodgers (a waffle addiction, winter food "buried" under kitchen rugs, that sort of thing), they're exactly the sort of novelty act that Ian's been looking for. However, with Dave being something of a commitment-phobe — hence the stuttering relationship with Claire (the gawkily appealing Richardson) — the implication that the trio and Dave are "family" is enough to send him into panic and the chipmunks into the arms of "Uncle" Ian, who sees them less as cute, furry rockstars and more as a source of extra zeros on his bank balance.
The conclusion is never in doubt: hell, 3-year-olds who've never seen a film before could probably predict the outcome. But while there is probably a limit to how long squeaky versions of famous songs remain entertaining, it's apparently longer than 90 minutes because Alvin & The Chipmunks is a perfectly acceptable piece of family entertainment. The songs are cute, the interplay amusing — I laughed out loud three times — and the moral, if blatantly obvious, will leave you feeling seasonably warm and fuzzy. There's probably not enough substance to warrant a sequel — unless Eli Roth and rabies are involved, perhaps — but if you've got kids to keep amused over the next couple of weeks, you could do much worse.
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SECOND OPINION | Jo Wood ***½ On seeing the posters and trailers for this movie, my heart sank a bit at having to attend a Leicester Square matinee full of half-people chattering, crying, giggling and wriggling. But for 90 whole minutes the entire theatre was completely enthralled by this all-colourful, all-musical movie incarnation of the 80s cartoon. Now, as someone who is a touch older than the target audience, and a self-confessed fan of the cartoon (which my brother and I would religiously rise every Saturday morning for) I was going to be hard to impress. But impressed I was. All too often cartoon creatures roaming around in the "real world" grates at the eyeballs, but director Hill pulls it off brilliantly, with an unlikely, but superbly chosen lead in Jason Lee, playing Dave, our chipmunks' guardian and "friend".
Dave has all the traits and flaws of the average 20-something human, and Alvin, Simon and Theodore have all the annoyingly cute traits of your average 5-year-old. Dave is commitment shy, disorganised, and a bit emotionally backward, whereas the chipmunks are excitable, delighted by material goods, and ultimately just looking for a big hug. After the little guys find their resident fur tree has been dragged into an office building and adorned with Christmas decorations, they happen upon Dave, a struggling musician leading the bachelor life. Eventually Dave promises to look after the furballs, on realising their talent for, not just talking, but singing, and writes them their first hit single which (of course) becomes an instant bestseller world-wide. Our villain comes in the form of music producer Ian (Cross) who is intent on exploiting the Chipmunks for all their worth. For young kids, this is has Christmas written all over it, and its better than a poke in the eye for the adults — I laughed out loud a few times, and thought the whole movie was thoroughly entertaining. At 90 minutes, the kids’ concentration was stretched a bit, with a few fidgets getting to breaking point three quarters of the way through, but overall, I thought it was a cheesy cracker, and should be enjoyed as such.
• Official Site
• Alvin & The Chipmunks at IMDb