Film Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” is a disappointing second installment from the Chipmunks franchise. Well, it becomes at the least commercially watchable (for some laughs) with its light campy touch of comic fun. Thanks to the endearing CGI characters – these singing-and-dancing rodents become really charming in this seamless blend of CGI and live-action elements. It is predictable, terribly acted especially by the live action guys, and heavily reliant on slapstick humor, but it has some entertaining moments nonetheless.
Featuring these rodents in cool outfits while shaking their tushes as they cover a number of danceable pop songs, this Chipmunk squeakquel delivers pretty much the bare minimum: a peppy, brightly colored, tune-filled scenes just enough to meet the low standards of watching merely for some laughs. Its high school rom-com style has no much effort to even mask its predictability. Indeed, the Chipmunks, along with the featured Chipettes, are as cute as ever here, but the plot is almost insultingly predictable, even for the younger viewers.
Amidst the not so engaging plot and flat jokes, the major upside to the movie is still the song and dance numbers. For the most, director Betty Thomas maintains the world famous singing pre-teen chipmunk trio as an appealing pop culture sensation in the big screen. And this time around, they contend with the pressures of school, fame, and a rival female group known as The Chipettes.
Trading on children’s endless appetite for talking animals is really a buy. Yes, there are some slapstick action and catchy soundtrack to enjoy and it can be counted as a family-friendly flick. However, a movie being aimed at children isn’t an excuse for it to be too simple-minded and trivial. In fact, all the more that quality should matter so that even the pre-kindergarten core audience can benefit on a good story. Talk about films like “Up” and “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” now those are awesome films for the kids (and even adults).
The Chipmunks Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler), and Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney) are still as appealing as the first movie. The addition of the Chipettes Brittany (voiced by Christina Applegate), Jeanette (voiced by Anna Faris), and Eleanor (voiced by Amy Poehler) add to the delight for these performing CGI animals. However, I just wonder, instead of paying for just celebrity voices that are actually unrecognizable and dispensable, why not pay for better writers to make the quality of the story in par with the charm of these adorable computer-generated talking animals?
As Alvin, Simon, and Theodore deal the pressures of high school, Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor provide two additional things: a reason to get more appeal to those who enjoy pop tunes; and more importantly, the chance to include female pop hits on the cute roster of performances. It is a given that these high-pitched boy and girl pop routines provide the bulk of the enjoyment for the movie. It is interesting to note that the Filipina singing sensation Charice Pempengco actually did a cameo performance here. As always, she’s got that impressive voice to back her up!
And given the circumstances, you could expect an inevitable Threequel for this movie.
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