"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" has come to DVD and Blu-ray. The musical comedy was a smash hit in theaters when it came out last December, earning nearly a half a billion dollars worldwide (yes, we said half a billion) and grabbing the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for favorite movie of 2009. Yowza!
This flick is a follow up to 2007's "Alvin and the Chipmunks," which is itself a follow up to five decades of Chipmunk records, TV shows, cartoon movies, and merchandise that began when a guy named Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. first dreamed up all the rodent-related madness back in 1958. The story picks up where the first movie left off, with Alvin, Simon and Theodore as super-popular pop stars touring the world with the help of their manager/father-figure Dave, played by Jason Lee.
The opening scene throws us right into the wildness of Chipmunk Mania, with the fuzzy fellows jamming in front of packed stadiums across the globe. But then things get weird. An onstage mishap lands Dave in a hospital bed, and the 'munks end up in the care of his bumbling nephew Toby (Zach Levi from TV's "Chuck"), who seems to do little but stay at home and play video games. Then the three little guys enroll in the local high school, where they run into trouble with a group of jealous football players and face the challenge of saving their school's music funding with a battle-of-the-bands against a new trio of female chipmunks, called the Chipettes. In the end, there's a wacky chase scene through downtown Los Angeles involving bad-guy record executive Ian (David Cross), a limo, a toy motorcycle, and a toy helicopter.
We Liked:
The musical numbers. The Chipmunks, from the very beginning, have been about the music, and this movie serves up some great high-pitched rockers, from "Funkytown" and "Shake Your Groove Thing" to the showstopper "Single Ladies." These tunes aren't quite as awesome and "chipmunky" as the classics and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late)" and "Witch Doctor" from the first movie, but just try not to sing along...we dare ya.
The special effects. Just like with the first movie, the filmmakers do a great job of mixing the live-action actors with the computer generated Chipmunks, and everything looks smooth and believable. You never actually believe that the Chipmunks are real, but you buy it, because it looks good, and it's fun.
The Chipettes. Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor aren't the deepest characters we've ever seen...they're basically just female counterparts to the boy Chipmunks. But hey, we're talking about singing and dancing chipmunks here, so how developed do they really have to be? The truth is, these girls are cute and funny, and they know how to rock.
Ian. David Cross, as greedy baddie Ian, basically does the same stuff as last time, but in the sequel he's less menacing and more goofy/pathetic. We know this actor can do a lot more, but he has some funny moments in this flick, and he's bad-in-a-good-way as he manipulates the Chipettes and tries to exact his revenge on the Chipmunks. His one-man attempt at a Chipettes concert (with puppets) is hilarious.
We Didn't Like:
The Dave/Toby switcheroo. Dave Seville has always been the Chimpunks' straight-man foil, the guy who screams "Alviiiiin!" and has to deal with the little guys' shenanigans. But for some unknown reason (probably due to money and contracts) actor Jason Lee plays Dave for about five minutes of this movie, at the very start and the very end. It's pretty lame, if you ask us. Toby, the guy who replaces him, doesn't add much to the story, even with his tacked-on crush on an old schoolmate who is now a teacher.
The high school stuff. A lot of this movie's plot just doesn't make any sense. The Chipmunks go from world popular rock stars playing stadium shows in places like Paris...to normal "kids" in high school? And actual real teenagers are jealous of them? And they let one of them onto the school football team, even though he's actually smaller than the ball? After the first movie, we really expected a sequel to be about the Chipmunks having a crazy adventure somewhere exotic. Sending them to high school really feels like a giant step backwards, and the whole story basically had us scratching our heads.
We know that most IML'ers are probably not going to love "The Squeakquel." It's really geared towards a younger audience. You 8-10 year old IML'ers have a good chance at digging the slapstick humor and goofy zaniness of this movie, but older tweens will probably be a disappointed by the lack of a decent story and the rather flat characters.
The film is best for the really young kids, like 4- to 7-year-olds, who won't be bothered by the silliness of the story. This makes the video a perfect fit for those of you who have little sibs, or who have jobs as babysitters. Those Chipmunks know how to entertain. What's particularly cool about this kind of movie is that children are likely to get up and dance to the music instead of just staring at it like zombies. The DVD comes with a bunch of bonus music videos, for even more kid-friendly fun. You might even find yourself getting into the spirit and joining in!
IML's rating:
A- for kids 7 and under
C+ for tweens over 8
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is rated PG for some mild rude humor.
This flick is a follow up to 2007's "Alvin and the Chipmunks," which is itself a follow up to five decades of Chipmunk records, TV shows, cartoon movies, and merchandise that began when a guy named Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. first dreamed up all the rodent-related madness back in 1958. The story picks up where the first movie left off, with Alvin, Simon and Theodore as super-popular pop stars touring the world with the help of their manager/father-figure Dave, played by Jason Lee. The opening scene throws us right into the wildness of Chipmunk Mania, with the fuzzy fellows jamming in front of packed stadiums across the globe. But then things get weird. An onstage mishap lands Dave in a hospital bed, and the 'munks end up in the care of his bumbling nephew Toby (Zach Levi from TV's "Chuck"), who seems to do little but stay at home and play video games. Then the three little guys enroll in the local high school, where they run into trouble with a group of jealous football players and face the challenge of saving their school's music funding with a battle-of-the-bands against a new trio of female chipmunks, called the Chipettes. In the end, there's a wacky chase scene through downtown Los Angeles involving bad-guy record executive Ian (David Cross), a limo, a toy motorcycle, and a toy helicopter.
We Liked:
The musical numbers. The Chipmunks, from the very beginning, have been about the music, and this movie serves up some great high-pitched rockers, from "Funkytown" and "Shake Your Groove Thing" to the showstopper "Single Ladies." These tunes aren't quite as awesome and "chipmunky" as the classics and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don't Be Late)" and "Witch Doctor" from the first movie, but just try not to sing along...we dare ya.
The special effects. Just like with the first movie, the filmmakers do a great job of mixing the live-action actors with the computer generated Chipmunks, and everything looks smooth and believable. You never actually believe that the Chipmunks are real, but you buy it, because it looks good, and it's fun.
The Chipettes. Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor aren't the deepest characters we've ever seen...they're basically just female counterparts to the boy Chipmunks. But hey, we're talking about singing and dancing chipmunks here, so how developed do they really have to be? The truth is, these girls are cute and funny, and they know how to rock.Ian. David Cross, as greedy baddie Ian, basically does the same stuff as last time, but in the sequel he's less menacing and more goofy/pathetic. We know this actor can do a lot more, but he has some funny moments in this flick, and he's bad-in-a-good-way as he manipulates the Chipettes and tries to exact his revenge on the Chipmunks. His one-man attempt at a Chipettes concert (with puppets) is hilarious.
We Didn't Like:
The Dave/Toby switcheroo. Dave Seville has always been the Chimpunks' straight-man foil, the guy who screams "Alviiiiin!" and has to deal with the little guys' shenanigans. But for some unknown reason (probably due to money and contracts) actor Jason Lee plays Dave for about five minutes of this movie, at the very start and the very end. It's pretty lame, if you ask us. Toby, the guy who replaces him, doesn't add much to the story, even with his tacked-on crush on an old schoolmate who is now a teacher.
The high school stuff. A lot of this movie's plot just doesn't make any sense. The Chipmunks go from world popular rock stars playing stadium shows in places like Paris...to normal "kids" in high school? And actual real teenagers are jealous of them? And they let one of them onto the school football team, even though he's actually smaller than the ball? After the first movie, we really expected a sequel to be about the Chipmunks having a crazy adventure somewhere exotic. Sending them to high school really feels like a giant step backwards, and the whole story basically had us scratching our heads.
We know that most IML'ers are probably not going to love "The Squeakquel." It's really geared towards a younger audience. You 8-10 year old IML'ers have a good chance at digging the slapstick humor and goofy zaniness of this movie, but older tweens will probably be a disappointed by the lack of a decent story and the rather flat characters.
The film is best for the really young kids, like 4- to 7-year-olds, who won't be bothered by the silliness of the story. This makes the video a perfect fit for those of you who have little sibs, or who have jobs as babysitters. Those Chipmunks know how to entertain. What's particularly cool about this kind of movie is that children are likely to get up and dance to the music instead of just staring at it like zombies. The DVD comes with a bunch of bonus music videos, for even more kid-friendly fun. You might even find yourself getting into the spirit and joining in!
IML's rating:
A- for kids 7 and under
C+ for tweens over 8
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is rated PG for some mild rude humor.
