Alvin and the Chipmunks

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Alvin and the Chipmunks

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Alvin and the Chipmunks

Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler

In a tree farm, three musically inclined chipmunks, Alvin, Simon and Theodore, find their tree cut down and sent to Los Angeles. Once there, they meet the frustrated songwriter David Seville, and desp...( read more  read more... )ite a poor house wrecking first impression, they impress him with their singing talent. Seeing the opportunity for success, both human and chipmunks make a pact for them to sing his songs. While that ambition proves a frustrating struggle with the difficult trio, the dream does come true after all. However, that success presents its own trials as their unscrupulous record executive, Ian Hawke, plans to break up this family to exploit the boys. Can Dave and the Chipmunks discover what they really value amid the superficial glamor around them?

Id: 10842407

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Alvin and the Chipmunks Recent Reviews

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Alvin and the Chipmunks Recent Reviews
  • jmanard52
    December 30, 2009
    jmanard52
    I actually laughed a bit at this and my daughter simply adores it. the fact that i loved the chipmunks as a kid helps make me get thru the bad parts of this one.
  • stopitgoaway
    December 26, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    When the box office figures for the US came in this weekend I was absolutely horrified! Sure I expected I Am Legend to do well, but the amount that Alvin and the Chipmunks got ($40+ million!) seemed absurd. Added to that the fact that it had earned more than Golden Compass did in...( read more) its opening weekend just seemed ludicrous. The trailers I had seen seemed very mediocre and I wasn't looking forward to seeing it that much. So what a surprise, and a delightful one, to say how much I really enjoyed the movie. Sure its a kids movie through and through, and if you're not into talking animals then you will come out of this movie and criticise its plot, script and usual more adult things that critics criticise about. But if you go in willing to sit back and enjoy the movie you will realise there is a lot to enjoy. The three leads themselves, Alvin, Simon and Theodore if you've never seen the Chipmunks before, are all very likable and have some hilarious moments. The movie features consistent humour that ranges from fart jokes for kids, to some really subtle references, most notably one to Die Hard where for one moment I thought Alvin was going to complete his Yipee Kiyay moment and make the parents gasp in horror, he doesn't so don't get too excited. The script itself is pretty decent, there are the obligatory clunky sentimental bits, but generally the movie is consistent and full of laughs. It does outstay its welcome admittedly and feels that little bit too long, but these are mere quibbles as this is a movie that is bound to entertain many kids and adults alike, and the fact this did better than Golden Compass no longer frustrates me, as this is admittedly a much better movie than Golden Compass.

    The three leads of the movies are CGI creations, they are also surprisingly voice by Justin Long (Alvin), Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon) and Jesse McCartney (Theodore), though you'd never know as obviously their voices have been morphed so they sound much more like the Chimpunks. Anyway their voices sound perfect, Theodore's being the most distinct and will make many audiences world wide sit their and go awww. Alvin is a great lead and has some brilliant moments. Simon is the most dull of the three but has some pretty funny moments as well. But its when the three start singing the movie just comes to life, the Chimpunks Christmas song definitely gave the older members of the audience to relish in, and their rendition of Funky Town is by far the highlight of the movie. The actual adult cast themselves are pretty decent. Jason Lee, from My Name is Earl, is a decent enough lead and at least does better than the adult actors in Garfield who seem almost asleep. When the sentimental stuff kicks in admittedly he does stumble a little bit, but generally Lee is on top form and definitely isn't always overshadowed by the chipmunks. David Cross does the traditional villain role pretty well, although he does start to irritate after a while and when he goes into pure evil mode later on in the film he just seems a bit silly. But by far the worst character in the movie has to be Claire, played by Cameron Richardson, she is out of place in this movie and the romance thing never plays off at all.

    Where Alvin and the Chimpmunks succeeds where movies such as Garfield and Scooby Doo have failed is the fact it succeeds in the comedy department. Sure the movie has its nostalgia factor, but if it wasn't funny then the movie would be a disaster. Thankfully this is a very funny movie. The fart jokes are obviously aimed at kids, but thankfully there aren't that many of them, in fact when you compare this to something like Garfield you realise how well the scriptwriters have done keeping this to a minimum. Slapstick is obviously a big part but done very well and there are many set pieces that will please audiences. The songs as I have said are definitely the highlights and as I've said before the Funky Town rendition is just pitch perfect. There are many one liners to be found as well amongst amongst some of the clunkers that appear later on. The sentimental scenes also are not as horrific as some more recent family movies have been. In fact some of the scenes generally do warm your heart.

    Overall Alvin and the Chimpunks is a surprisingly good movie that is definitely something parents should take their kids to see this Christmas. While maybe not as good as Enchanted this is definitely better than Golden Compass, and kids will lap this up.
  • stuartb1234
    October 8, 2009
    stuartb1234
    sh**
  • mrpopcorn
    January 27, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "Here comes trouble."

    Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are back in director Tim Hill's computer-animation/live-action hybrid following the further adventures of the world's most adorable singing trio. Songwriter Dave Seville (Jason Lee) has been struggling to gain recognition i...( read more)n the music industry for some time, and despite the fact that his former college roommate (David Cross) is now a high-profile powerbroker at Jett Records, Dave still can't manage to get a break. Things soon start to look up, however, when Dave discovers three singing chipmunks hiding out in the branches of a Christmas tree in Jett Records' world headquarters. Realizing that these woodland crooners cold prove to be his ticket to the big time, Dave does his best to transform Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler), and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) into the next great pop sensation. As adorable and talented as they may be, though, these bouncy little critters aren't quite domesticated just yet; they still have a wild streak in them a mile wide, and it isn't long before Dave's life, home, and career are in utter chaos. But staying mad at such lovable little creatures is next to impossible, no matter what kind of mischief they might get into.

    Review
    There are films that inspire and there are miserable attempts of folly. Alvin and the Chipmunks falls into the latter category. Here was an 80's series that had it all: snappy beats; great humour and fantastic stories. Take that perfect vision and translate it into a full-length feature film and your idea would look a little different than the gruel Tim Hill came up with. Perhaps he never saw the series? We have Dave, a lonely, bungling artist in a world that's hard on soft bachelors. One day he happens to meet a group of talking Chipmunks. It's that simple. These are no ordinary little animated characters however ? they sing and they talk. So our intrepid musician writes their songs and gives them shelter. The Chipmunks are a huge hit ? America loves them. But can Dave protect them from being exploited by ruthless, greedy men? I advise kids ? and only very young kids ? to see this with their parents. This is not a film worthy of being considered for adult or post-kindergarten entertainment.
  • AgentLexi2132
    January 7, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''We're talking chipmunks, Dave. We can get out of a cat carrier. Not even hard to do.''

    A struggling songwriter named Dave Seville finds success when he comes across a trio of singing chipmunks: mischievous leader Alvin, brainy Simon, and chubby, impressionable Theodore

    ...( read more).

    Jason Lee: Dave

    When I finally got around to seeing this film recently, it turned out to be exactly what I predicted... yet another Hollywood CG/live-action rehash of an established cartoon franchise. Nothing special or memorable whatsoever. Designed in every way possible to appeal to very young children and very immature adults, making heavy use of comedic devices such as farts, poo-eating, and the size of Theodore's butt.

    Alvin and the Chipmunks would bother me a lot less if it weren't such an obvious step down for the cartoon series. Even their characters I found were drastically altered, for the negatively oppressed, for this story. While history has denoted, each one of the three, have had a very distinct personality.
    In this film version, they all behaved like immature, smart-alecky children with too much energy, constantly bouncing erratically off the walls. It especially bothered me to see Simon portrayed in this way... He's supposedly the smart one of the trio, a serious nerd who acts as the "straight man" to Alvin's crazy antics. But here he's pretty much a clone of the other two. One joke in the film even implies that Simon only thinks he's intelligent, but really isn't... and honestly if I had never heard of the Chipmunks before seeing this film, I would have agreed.

    One of the other irritations that Alvin & the Chipmunks continues to give us, is the money obsessed manager, played by David Cross. Uncle Ian, is the obvious villain of the piece, the temptation aspect of the whole affair. When Dave falls out with the Chipmunks, its rich Ian whom looks after the trio. For a start his whiny voice and whimsical philosophy on fame and commercialized success in pop, also proves sickening as well as annoying. He uses the Chipmunks to make big bucks, although how any one can actually consider Chipmunk singing music is beyond my reasoning. Despite all these whispering jaunts, his villainy proves to be one of the most energized things in the film. Ian and some squirrels was amusing, to say the least, in the credits.

    In my opinion, this whole affair, is just another obvious cash makind device, like Garfield was, and I'm more than a little disappointed, the cartoons being far superior to any CGI creation. The fact that it's a children orientated movie doesn't excuse its many flaws... To excuse a stupid movie that degrades a classic franchise, just because it's for children is insulting to children and adults alike, in equal measure.
    Any child would deserve something more intelligent than this offering.
  • thevivster
    December 31, 2009
    thevivster
    Definitely cute, but the storyline was really muddled and felt a little forced and fake.

    Which is okay for a CGI flick. A good, wholesome family film, but there's some dialogue that doesn't seem to mix.
  • photomaestro
    December 29, 2009
    photomaestro
    I loved the cartoon when I was young :s
  • robnuguid
    December 28, 2009
    robnuguid
    Strictly for kids only.
  • The13xxx
    December 28, 2009
    The13xxx
    'Christmas, Christmas time is near
    Time for toys and time for cheer
    We've been good but we can't last
    Hurry Christmas, hurry fast
    Want a plane that loops the loop
    Me, I want a hula hoop
    We can hardly stand the wait
    Please Christmas, don't be late'

    Love the song & of cour...( read more)se The Chipmunks!
  • aryanapoteat
    December 26, 2009
    aryanapoteat
    The funniest movie.... Alvin is the best chipmunk.....
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