Alvin & the Chipmunks (2007)

 

cast: Jason Lee, David Cross, Matthew Gray Gubler, Justin Long, Jesse McCartney

 

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated: PG

 
reviewed by: Charity Bishop
   

If there is one thing that gets to me, it's talking animals. From Babe to Charlotte's Web, I am a sap when it comes to cute little furry things talking in high-pitched voices. I knew when I saw the trailer for Alvin and the Chipmunks that I was going to have to see it, even if it required begging, borrowing, or stealing a child in order to do it. I didn't have to take a kid with me, and it turns out I wasn't the only adult in the theater without them, either.

Life is relatively simple for the Chipmunks as winter sets in. They are storing up nuts for the long, cold months ahead and singing while they work. But then disaster sets in, or at least the beginnings of a great adventure: their tree happens to be on a tree farm, and it is now tall enough to be cut down and sent to the big city in the hopes of winding up in someone's front room. Only it winds up in the workplace, the center of attention for everyone coming into the musical recording studio. One of the hapless individuals passing beneath its evergreen branches happens to be Dave (Lee). All he wants to do is sell his music, but his "buddy" Ian (Cross) makes it absolutely clear that his music stinks, that he doesn't have the voice for it, and he should quit trying to become a composer and find something more worthwhile to do with his life.

Dejected and ticked off at this massive rejection, Dave snatches up a basket of goodies off the nearest desk and makes a run for the front door -- little knowing that he has three hitchhikers along for the ride. Upon returning home, he is introduced to the latest members of his household: the bookish and shortsighted Simon (Gubler), the rambunctious Alvin (Long), and the plump food-loving Theodore (McCartney). Not about to have talking rodents taking over his house, Dave tosses them out into the rain -- and mournfully, shivering, they start to sing. It doesn't take Dave long to realize he has a potential hit on his hands, the Chipmunks to begin scheming how to make Dave part of their family, and Ian to try and figure out how much money he can make off the little fuzz balls.

It would have been all too easy for the studios to make this film inappropriate, to throw in some innuendo or overtly crude jokes, but it is wonderful stuff. I could not be more pleased with it, because it's a film that children and adults alike are going to enjoy. I cannot stress how adorable the chipmunks are. Animation just does not cut it anymore, but "live animation" and CGI make these three of the cutest little creatures you will ever see, right up to the fluffy tails and enormous eyes. The antics they get up to are fun for parents and kids alike, from the instance in which they taste caffeine and go crazy in the recording studio, to their concert performances in shiny little flak jackets. The dialogue is also quite snappy as well, full of great one liners and good comebacks, and it has a good plot, albeit one that has been done before. Still, you come to hate Ian long before the end -- or before he is mean to Theodore, an instance that set up a chorus of angry mutters from the audience.

Most of the original songs are intact but when on their own, the chipmunks like to groove to tunes by the Pussycat Dolls and other modern artists with "iffy" lyrics (nothing too bad). Ian encourages Theodore to spank himself for a music video. Bare midriffs are shown on background dancers. Dave discovers a drawing of "Theodore's fat butt" on one of his presentation boards. When Dave yells at the chipmunks, Theodore is so scared he leaves a pellet on the couch. Simon jams it in his mouth to assure Dave it is a raisin, then spits it out when Dave is no longer looking. One of the chipmunks passes gas. It's not often that a kid's movie is so cute that I walk out hoping to see it a second time, or even planning to one day purchase the DVD, but Alvin and the Chipmunks was a part of my childhood growing up. More than that, it was a part of my parents' childhood, and it's always nice when a recent remake lives up to the sweetness of its predecessors.