ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS : CHIPWRECKED – The Review

Ah, what Hollywood will do in the pursuit of family movie box office bucks. The studio executives love pre-sold properties, so for the past several years the rights to the Saturday morning superstars of yesteryear have been scooped up to attract not only the small set, but their parents who have nostalgic memories of wolfing down their sugar-blasted cereals in front of the old, glowing cathode tube babysitter. For most of these trips down memory lane, the classic characters are rendered in CGI alongside live actors, perhaps to set these new efforts apart from their limited cell animation roots. This may have begun with CASPER, who frolicked with Christina Ricci and Bill Paxton, and continued with SCOOBY DOO ( and a CGI Great Dane ), YOGI BEAR, this past Summer’s smash THE SMURFS, and now the third of the movie series, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS : CHIPWRECKED. While they might be best remembered by most adults as TV stars, the Chipmunks were created for novelty records ( now that’s really going back ). After several audio experiments, music producer/ songwriter Ross Bagdasarian ( movie trivia : he’s the lonely piano player living across from Jimmy Stewart in REAR WINDOW ) created the trio for the recording ” The Chipmunk Song” AKA ” Christmas Don’t Be Late “. Not only did Bagdasarian provide the voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, but he become the character David Seville, the human manager / father figure to the child-like rodents. This prompted several more best-selling record albums and eventually a CBS prime time animated series ( produced by Format Films ), ” The Alvin Show “. A few more albums followed until they drifted into pop culture limbo after the death of Bagdasarian in 1972. In the early eighties son Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. revived the group with new versions of pop tunes and returned them to Saturday mornings on NBC with a new series in 1983 ( this time produced by Ruby-Spears and later DIC ). The trio invaded home video with a series of original animated films and jumped to cinemas in 2007 with the live action/ CGI hybrid ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS. A follow-up in 2009, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS : THE SQUEAKQUEL introduced moviegoers to the trio’s female counterparts : Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor. Both flicks were box office bonanzas, so here’s the film that hopes to pull off the old franchise hat trick.

Well. what did they come up with for this new movie adventure? Let’s send ’em on vacation! On a high seas cruise to be exact. Dave Seville ( Jason Lee ) takes the chipmunks and chipettes on a nautical excursion before they perform on the International Music Awards show. This will be a perfect opportunity for ole’ Dave to sooth his jangled nerves. But with that hellion Alvin leading the group there’s little chance of any relaxation for Mr. S! Dave soon earns the ire of the ship’s captain and the intrusive ship mascot who turns out to be the villain from the previous films, Ian ( David Cross ) former music producer now reduced to wearing a cumbersome pelican costume. An incident with a kite sends the ‘munks flying off the boat. Dave and Ian grab a paraglider, but soon are adrift at sea. The six castaways land on an island that turns out not to be deserted. There’s a loopy delivery woman named Zoe ( Jenny Slate ) who helps them. The island provides more than just survival challenges for the title trio. The more immature Theodore is still traumatized by a monster flick he watched in their cabin on the ship. A spider bite turns the usually timid Simon into a reckless, French-accented daredevil who makes Jeanette swoon. And the usually irresponsible Alvin must take charge as a looming volcano threatens to erupt. Will they be re-united with Dave ( and Ian ) and return to civilization in time for the big award show. And what’s the secret behind the waterfall?

These little critters may just have overstayed their time at the multiplex with this uninspired ( well, with a bit of inspiration from CASTAWAY and TV’s ” Survivor “, ” Lost “, and ” Gilligan’s Island ” ) romp. The chipmunks are just not complex enough to warrant a third film. Theo’s the pudgy baby, Simon’s the timid brainiac, and Alvin’s the wild card. Their main gimmick ( squeaky, sped-up voices ) grows tiresome quickly. I could only understand have of the vocals on their takes on pop tunes ( luckily there’s only one ” chip-rap ” number ). Some name actors supply the voices, but sound nearly alike ( I can’t tell you which chipette is Christina Applegate, Anna Faris, or Amy Poehler ). The CGI animation of them is serviceable, but in most of the action scenes they bounce around like little furry rubber balls ( I’m so glad we were spared 3D on this one ). Their live human co-stars don’t fare much better. Lee and Cross have shown their impressive comedy skills on TV ( in ” My Name is Earl ” and ” Arrested Development ” ), but here the must struggle through some poorly scripted bits of clumsy slapstick. It was a surprise seeing the gifted SNL vet Slate involved, but she can’t turn this into comic gold. Even the biggest baby boomer and Gen X fans ( now parents ) will be checking their time pieces as this film plods along. With much superior family films still in theatres ( THE MUPPETS, ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, and the magical HUGO ), there’s no need to board this sinking ship. The old ” it’s just a kids’ movie” excuse should not give a free pass to mediocre movies.

Overall Rating: One Out of Five Stars