Alvin and the Chipmunks

My son has been bugging me to go see the Chipmunks Movie, which I have not yet seen a trailer for. I was caught a little off guard to see Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) pop up on the big screen at the beginning of the movie. Yes, Earl...er, I mean Lee plays the lead human role of Dave Seville. He seems to have a knack for lovable goofball roles. In Alvin and the Chipmunks he delivers as expected.

For me, the biggest test of human/animation films is the believability. I must say that the movie Hulk was way overdone. The animation was not believable, which really ruined the film for me. An example of interaction between humans and animation that I thought worked well were the Scooby Doo movies. The interaction between Shaggy and Scooby in those movies was classic. I watched closely throughout this movie to see the chipmunks in direct interaction with humans. These moments were truly believable. Without being over the top, the animation was detailed, interactive, and seamless. This film almost seeks opportunities for the animation to come into direct contact to challenge the skills of the animators. I must say that they did an exceptional job.

The plot is simple. A villainous, get-rich-at-anybody's expense corporate-user type (played by David Cross) gives the chipmunks anything they want in order to exploit them. David Cross is an exceptional villain. He's your run of the mill bad guy opportunist. He plays the role with a slickness that makes his character (although one dimensional) likeably detestable. The goofy I-don't-want-to-be-a-family Seville gets frustrated and sends the chipmunks off with the bad guy. The bad guy loses, the good guy wins. The rest is details. I hate giving away the plot of a movie to someone who hasn't seen it yet, so I will leave it at that, but this movie is extremely predictable, so the plot is almost secondary. The fun is in the watching.

I thoroughly enjoy the mischief that runs as a constant undercurrent in this film. Who could have dreamed up a classic scene involving an animated chipmunk farting in someone's face? Disgusting you say? I beg to differ. This is exactly the type of humor that gets a hearty laugh from the children in the audience (and for those of us that slip back into childhood while watching). Many of us grew up with these little fellas, and it's interesting to see them get a makeover.

I went to the early matinee. The movie started at noon. (The run time is right around an hour and a half). I arrived in the theater about ten minutes before show time. I was actually amazed at the number of viewers already seated in the theater when I arrived. I tend to go to matinee viewings for all my movies, and it is not uncommon for the theater to have less than ten people attending at that time of day. Based on the number of people in the audience, I would suggest that this movie is going to make a ton of money...so the chipmunks (albeit animated) get exploited after all. Is that irony? Nah. Based on the reactions of the crowd, I believe that the other customers were equally amused and entertained during this movie, which is always a sign of continued success.

Overall, the casting, camera angles, costumes, acting, and animation were all exceptional. The plot was standard for a movie targeting this age group (predominantly pre-teen). The only other item of interest is the soundtrack. I'm not sure on this point, and it's really not of great importance to me. There were some really good songs that were performed in Chipmunk. The standard The Chipmunks Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) that everyone has heard was one of the central songs. I still like that song. I also enjoyed their version of Had a Bad Day. The majority of the other songs were hip-hop boyband songs that were really weak (and were probably designed that way to support the plot). However, I would have enjoyed just a couple more songs redone in Chipmunk Harmony.

Final Thoughts...I really enjoyed this movie. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in, but the animation sealed the deal for me. This movie is going to be really popular with the kids because of the childish antics. If you like to be entertained, without putting a lot of thought into it, this is the movie for you. If you have children that are pre-teen, then this is definitely the movie for you. I give this movie the maximum five out of five stars.