Reviewed by Kim Choe
The lights flare, a guitar wails, and the crowd of screaming pre-teen girls goes wild. Then, the stars of the show burst onto the stage – three fur balls, mere inches high and better known as Alvin, Theodore, and Simon.
With the help of a little auto-tune and a lot of pitch shifting and CGI, these chipmunks sure know how to shake it. But this time around, they’re facing stiff competition from an equally groovy and even more high-pitched trio of females – The Chipettes.
The premise of this ‘squeakquel’ is whisker-thin, but the basics are there: girls vs. boys, evil manager vs. naïve starlets, jocks vs. everyone else. The Chipmunks are sent to school after one of their gigs comes to a disastrous end, and discover that their rock star status counts for little in the lunch line or on the football field. Will they abandon each other in their desperation to fit in, and surrender their spotlight to The Chipettes? Or will brotherhood, and music, be the winners on the day? I’ll let you guess. The whole thing reminded me of Glee, but G-rated – and with fur.
Grown-ups may experience some trouble (or even mild irritation) trying to understand the gabbled chipmunk-speak, but the young target audience will certainly enjoy it. There are enough slapstick physical gags to keep the youngest ones interested, and even the most cynical babysitter will have to admit that seeing the little critters shaking their animated booty to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ is undeniably cute.
All in all, good fun for the holidays – but consider popping the BeeGees on before you go, just to acclimatise your ears.
Three and a half stars.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
:: Director: Betty Thomas
:: Starring: Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, Christina Applegate
:: Running Time: 88 mins
:: Rating: G
:: Trailer: Click here
