Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 12.28.2009

A great, funny family comedy that will make you smile. A total blast.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" Review

Zachary Levi- Toby Seville
David Cross- Ian Hawke
Jason Lee- Dave Seville
Wendie Malick- Dr. Rubin
Anjelah Johnson- Julie
Kevin G. Schmidt- Ryan
Kathryn Joosten- Aunt Jackie

Justin Long- Alvin (voice)
Mathew Gray Gubler- Simon (voice)
Jesse McCartney- Theodore (voice)
Christina Applegate- Brittany (voice)
Anna Faris- Jeanette (voice)
Amy Poehler- Eleanor (voice)

Directed by Betty Thomas
Screenplay by Jon Vitti, Jonathan Aibel, and Glenn Berger, based on characters created by Ross Bagdasarian

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

Rated PG for some mild rude humor
Runtime- 89 minutes

Website: http://www.munkyourself.com/



"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is an enjoyable, light hearted, goofy as all hooha family comedy that's likely to make you smile at least once throughout its 89 minute running time. I know it made me smile, several times, and I'm not the movie's target demographic. It's the kind of movie that revels in a kind of gentleness that you rarely see in any kind of theatrically released movie, let alone a kid's movie, these days. It's sarcastic at times, sure, but it's never mean.



Directed by Betty Thomas ("The Brady Bunch Movie," "Private Parts," "John Tucker Must Die") "The Squeakquel" picks up where 2007's "Alvin and the Chipmunks" left off, with the singing chipmunks Alvin, Simon, and Theodore (voices of Justin Long, Mathew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney) living with their "dad" Dave Seville (Jason Lee), who also manages their singing career. The Chipmunks are actually smack dab in the middle of a world tour when we first see them, playing a concert in Paris, France. Dave is upset with Alvin, as Alvin hogs the spotlight and tries to make the group's performance all about him (Alvin is the only one of the Chipmunks jamming on an electric guitar and jumping around the stage like a rock and roll lunatic). Dave wants them to work together as that's when they're all at their best. After an accidental mishap involving a giant metal (or it could have been wood) Alvin sign, Dave is severely injured and forced to stay in a Paris hospital until he gets better. Dave tells his boys that they can't stay with him in Paris because he won't be able to pay attention to them and take care of them (he's really hurt) and that they'll have to go home to California and stay with his aunt Jackie (Kathryn Joosten) and her slacker uber gamer grandson Toby (Zachary Levi). The boys will also have to go to school, something they've never had to do before. This causes great anxiety for the brothers, especially with Theodore. It also doesn't help that, within minutes of arriving back in California, Aunt Jackie is sent to the hospital after an unfortunate mishap involving a flight of stairs and her wheelchair and Toby is solely in charge of taking care of the Chipmunks. Big trouble is about to ensue.

So the Chipmunks go to school and have a hard time fitting in. The world famous rock star Chipmunks immediately butt heads with the school's alpha male jock douchebags (the popular girls like them, though, a situation that causes the jocks to try to recruit Alvin into their group), Theodore is terrified of the school's giant eagle mascot, and they're just lost overall without anyone helping guiding them (As you'd expect, Toby is useless when it comes to being a parent. Simon tires very hard to keep his brothers on the straight and narrow but he's busy fighting off the daily swirlies from the football team). Dealing with all of that, the Chipmunks are also recruited by the school's principal (Dr. Rubin, as played by the great Wendie Malick) to help the school win a big musical competition that will allow the school to keep its music program.



Meanwhile, the dastardly music producer and sworn enemy of the Chipmunks Ian Hawke (David Cross) is down on his luck, living in the basement of the record company he used to run (his "office" is on the roof, he brushes his teeth in the water fountain out front, and he picks through the garbage to find used coffee filters that still have some unused coffee grounds in them. That's pretty dang destitute). He's been searching high and low for a new singing animal act to destroy the Chipmunks but so far he's been unlucky. Then, one day, a FedEx bag mysteriously appears with three female Chipmunks inside; three female Chipmunks that can sing, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor (Christina Applegate, Anna Faris, and Amy Poehler). Ian suddenly sees his opportunity. He convinces the Chipettes to sign on with him and let him guide their musical careers and signs them up for school so they can try to enter the competition. Little do the Chipettes know that Ian has no interest in saving the school music program and just wants to use them to destroy the Chipmunks.



Will Ian's master plan work? Will Alvin eventually abandon his brothers and go off on his own and hang out with the cool kids? Will Theodore ever get to experience the familial togetherness that he so desperately wants? Will the Chipettes ever be as big as Alvin, Simon, and Theodore? Will Toby ever become something other than a lame ass gamer douchebag? And will Dave ever get out of that hospital and get back to California so he can fix the mess that Toby has no doubt created?

The first thing you're likely to notice about "The Squeakquel" is the better chipmunk animation. The Chipmunks blend into the world much better than last time (they don't appear as cartoony as they did last time). You're also likely to notice how there are fewer specific musical performances from the Chipmunks than last time. They never really sing a full song; everything is a snippet or just a part of a song. I would have liked to have seen at least two performances, but then doing that would have added to the movie's runtime. Family comedies like this are at their best when they move quickly and don't waste time. You're also likely to notice how much the franchise really needs Jason Lee in a starring role as opposed to a supporting/glorified cameo role. Zachary Levi, good old Chuck Bartowski hisself, does a decent enough job, sure, as the lead human character in the story, but he's no real substitute for Lee as Dave Seville. As a result, the movie suffers a bit because he's not there in the background. Again, Levi does a good job and he doesn't ruin the movie at all, it's just he can't really do what Lee did in the first movie. If and when there's a third movie, 20th Century Fox needs to pay Lee whatever he wants to guarantee his participation. Whatever he wants.



The voice work is, once again, top notch. Jesse McCartney is the best of the Chipmunks as Theodore, as he makes the chubby, sensitive, happy go lucky little critter so dang adorable you can't hate him. Matthew Gray Gubler's performance for Simon is much more sober than last time, as he is the group conscience (with Dave out of the picture Simon is the voice of reason for the group). And Justin Long is simply spot on hilarious as Alvin, making him an even bigger preening jerk than last time (a preening jerk with a heart, that is. He eventually comes around to being a better chipmunk). The Chipette voice work is great, too, although you're probably going to find it difficult to notice the performer's voices. Amy Poehler plays Eleanor, the female Theodore of the Chipette group. Poehler's voice doesn't come through. Christina Applegate's voice doesn't come through, either, as the lead Chipette Brittany. And Anna Farris just disappears into Jeanette.

David Cross is once again perfect as the douchebaggy Ian Hawke. You never get to feel any of Ian's pain or understand his issues like you kind of did in the first movie (he was greedy, money grubbing user prick in that movie, but he was also a hard worker). In this flick he's just an out and out villain and you never once feel sorry for him, especially when he's rooting through the garbage to find food. You really can't stand him. You still enjoy watching him, yeah, but now more than ever you can't wait to see him fail spectacularly. There's a great bit after the credits that deals with Ian's fate that's a perfect end for him if Cross decides not to come back for a third movie. You should also check out the part where Cross turns himself into a multicolored strobe light. Funny, funny stuff indeed. You will laugh. Kevin G. Schmidt is perfect as lead jock Ryan. He's got the perfect high school alpha male look and sneer, and he's totally believable as the popular kid everyone wants to hang around with. Had the movie focused more on the "Chipmunks in school" aspect of the story he would have made for a suitable main villain. He works just as well as a secondary villain.

I would have liked to see more from Wendie Malick as the school principal Dr. Rubin, especially when it comes to her apparent intense Chipmunk fandom (she has a tattoo of the group on her arm), but what we get from her is pretty dang good anyway. Anjelah Johnson, as the school music teacher and object of Toby's affection Julie, doesn't get much screen time, and it's a little hard to believe that she has feelings for Toby at all, but you certainly understand why Toby likes her so dang much (in a word, she's hot). And Kathryn Joosten deserved one more scene as Aunt Jackie, but her wheelchair accident scene is one of the funnier scenes in the movie, so at least we get that.

Now, my only real complaint about the movie is a small cameo towards the end by Digger, the Fox on NASCAR mascot. How are non-NASCAR fans supposed to know who the heck he is? Digger is allegedly somehow related to the Chipmunks (he's a cousin or something according to wikipedia), a "fact" that, as far as I know, hasn't been dealt with/mentioned in either the first movie or this one. I certainly understand the whole corporate synergy thing in terms of why Digger appears, but it sure would have been nice if his appearance had more of an explanation.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," while not quite as good as its predecessor, is still a great time at the movies. It's a fun, funny, gentle family flick that's worth making an effort to see in a theatrical setting. I enjoyed it immensely.

See it. See it, see it, see it.



So what do we have here? Gratuitous singing chipmunks, gratuitous "Girl, You Really Got Me Now," gratuitous chipmunk jamming on an electric guitar, gratuitous Jason Lee, gratuitous Eskimos in an igloo, a dog destroying a TV, a giant falling Alvin sign, gratuitous sedatives, chipmunk luggage, gratuitous Kathryn Joosten, gratuitous Zachary Levi, a hilarious wheelchair injury gag, gratuitous glitter, gratuitous Utz cheese balls, a blender ride, a sleeping chair, gratuitous singing chipmunks going to school, a giant eagle, finger kissing, gratuitous David Cross, garbage eating, gratuitous female singing chipmunks, fat jokes, multiple wedgies, multiple swirlies, gratuitous chipmunk attack, gratuitous Wendie Malick, gratuitous Wendie Malick with a chipmunk tattoo, gratuitous "Meerkat Manor," multiple high school flashbacks, a "pinch me" sign, gratuitous dodge ball, a chipmunk beeping his own horn, family issues, gratuitous Dutch oven, gratuitous Beyonce song, gratuitous chipmunk playing football, a dumpster brawl, a zoo visit, gratuitous Toys for Tots, gratuitous Gregg Binkley, gratuitous chipmunk on a motorcycle, gratuitous Digger cameo, radio controlled helicopter attack, motorcycle to the balls, gratuitous "We Are Family," a sock puppet show, and two funny after credits sequences.

Best lines: "Sorry, Dave, I can't hear you with thousands of fans screaming in my ear," "Who is Aunt Jackie?," "Dave, please don't die," "I'm not really much of a hugger," "Been there, done that. Several times," "It's a food ghost town in here," "I'm gonna puke!," "Why would anyone want to wake up early?," "Hi, I'm Theodore! Hi, I'm Theodore! Hi, I'm Theodore!," "I love the smell of zit cream in the morning," "Hey, that's my muffin you dirty rat!," "It's the cuddly ones you've got to watch," "You are Theadorable," "Simon, does this make my butt look smaller?," "Hey, Brittany, you want to be a star? Act like one," "Is that the Chihuahua from the movie?," "Right in the pancreas," "Alvin, I think the super cool jock table is paging you," "Are you going to pick that up?," "This is for my screen saver," "Oh, it is on like Donkey Kong!," "Not the Dutch oven!," "Litter is no joking matter," "I'm going to crack you like an acorn and eat you for dinner," "You hear that, girls? That's the smell of success," "Life is good. Especially when you're not a loser," "You are not a meerkat!," "Come on, Simon, hug it out," "Ian, in the words of McDonalds, you're fired!," "Now that was huge," and "At least let me go back and get my purse."

The 411: "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is a great family comedy, a fun and gentle blast that will leave a smile on your face. I wouldn't bother with it, though, if you didn't like the first "Chipmunk" movie and don't like broad family comedies in general. You're likely going to be bored out of your mind. I had a great time. I laughed. I had fun. I can't wait to see a third one.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]