Reviewed by Nicky Maund
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
UK certification U | UK RRP £12.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 92 minutes
Directed by Tim Hill
"Alvin! Simon! Theodore!" Hearing those familiar helium-fuelled voices took me back to watching Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoons in my childhood. Now the diminutive trio are back in this reworked film version of the TV series, first conceived almost 50 years ago.
The premise is a simple one. Dave Seville (Jason Lee) is a hapless advertising exec/aspiring songwriter who happens across the all-singing, all-dancing brothers when their tree is cut down and put up as a Christmas decoration in an LA record company’s foyer. Quickly realising their popstar potential (and adjusting admirably quickly to meeting three talking chipmunks), he lets the trio stay in his house – cue slapstick laughs as they trash the joint, get him fired and spoil his date. Differentiated by the colour of their hoodies, the brothers are Alvin (the smart-mouthed leader, dressed in red), Simon (the short-sighted clever one, wearing blue) and Theodore (plump, innocent and sporting green). They squeak their way through pop hits like Daniel Powter and the Pussycat Dolls (which may upset the purist Chipmunks fans), then Dave writes them a novelty Christmas song and they become a whirlwind global success. All is not as rosy as it seems though, as the ruthless record company boss, Ian Hawke (David Cross), is out to cash in on the brothers and turn them against Dave.
A mixture of live action and CGI animation, the 90 minutes go past quickly. Lee is likeable as the reluctant father figure and when they’re not dancing their slightly surreal routines wearing Madonna-style mic headsets, the cheeky chipmunks are realistically animated and bounce around charmingly. The original songs are a mix of pop, hiphop and R&B, pitched to appeal to today’s kids, and come off as a bit Black-Eyed Peas-esque. Kids will love the film and while it’s not on a par with family movies from the Pixar stable, there’s something for parents as well as the target audience – be it nostalgia or bemusement at Jason Lee’s odd departure from his recent role in My Name is Earl.
EXTRAS *** Along with the usual "making-of" features, there’s the chance to remix a Chipmunks song and "Get Munk’d" — a step-by-step choreography guide to one of the dance routines for budding Pop Idol contestants.