The opening
scene of Alvin and the Chipmunks promises a surprisingly
quirky and innovative update of the classic television cartoon,
boasting a gut-busting rendition of Daniel Powter’s Top 40-hit
“Bad Day” as sung by the title rodent trio. The sketch
brilliantly evokes the spirit originally popularized by chipmunk
brothers Alvin, Simon, and Theodore—jubilantly singing in their
high-pitched voices and living it up—as they stock their home
pine tree with food for the Winter. There isn’t anything big in
terms of plot at stake; the audience is merely delighted by the
cuteness and charm of the three now-C.G.I. figures harmonizing
in the foreground. For about five minutes, one might just come
to believe that Alvin and the Chipmunks made for the
silver-screen wasn’t the miscalculated idea that everyone had
originally assumed it to be.
The rest of the
film, however, abandons the promise of the aforementioned
sequence. Filled with all of the clichés, chaos, and redundancy
of nearly every other “family film” currently on the market, the
movie soon tires and betrays the simple pleasures of its beloved
source material. The Chipmunks’ home is quickly chopped down and
sold as a Christmas tree for the lobby of corrupt, commercial
music-producer Ian’s (David Cross) corporate offices. After a
perilous encounter with a pair of vicious canines, the three
wind up taking shelter in a complimentary scone-basket stolen by
failed musician Dave Seville (Jason Lee). When Dave is shocked
to find The Chipmunks savaging in the kitchen of his house, he
originally wants nothing to do with them. Dave soon, however,
learns of the trio’s singing talent and realizes the Golden
Opportunity that it presents. After all, who wouldn’t buy a CD
made by talking chipmunks?
The movie’s
set-up, while rather routine, doesn’t completely lack signs of
promise. It’s what follows that makes Alvin and the Chipmunks
the colossal trainwreck that it is. The Chipmunks are soon
introduced to the heartless Ian, who exploits their talents in a
way that only a record producer could. Before long, Ian
convinces The Chipmunks to abandon stern, caring father-figure
Dave in order to take them on an international tour, resulting
in an abundance of scenes in which they are either in danger or
under extreme emotional duress. Director Tim Hill and writers
Jon Vitti, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi see said scenes as
the only way to move their uncreative plot along.
Why must movies
like Alvin and the Chipmunks constantly rely on the cheap
scare tactic of pinning likeable protagonists in situations of
jeopardy and hardship? Even if the only thing at stake in the
film is the wellbeing of a group of computer-generated rodents
that will predictably be saved from their woes by the time that
the end-credits roll, the approach still comes off as wildly
uncomfortable for the audience. Why couldn’t Alvin and the
Chipmunks have merely celebrated the surface joy evoked by
the sight and sound of singing chipmunks, as its opening does?
The humor of one of the funniest scenes in the movie is derived
from the sheer absurdity of the image of millions of fans coming
to the concert of a trio of four-inch-tall chipmunks. Is the
presence of a detailed plot (let alone a clichéd,
detailed plot) really vital to the successful presentation of
such trivially enjoyable material?
Another one of
the film’s biggest disappointments is the poorly conceived and
packaged lead performance of Jason Lee. Lee was admittedly the
perfect choice for the role, a sardonic everyman version of the
infamous Dave Seville, but his efforts come across as extremely
misguided in the final product. Whether this is his own fault or
that of director Hill – I dunno. In the film, the Chipmunks are
supposed to develop a grudge against Dave because of the strict
fatherly decisions that he makes for their own good. He is
supposed to be a sympathetic character that the Chipmunks simply
do not understand in their reveling youth. Instead, Lee’s Dave
seems every bit the asshole that the Chipmunks come to perceive
him to be, making it hard for the viewer to really root for them
to retreat to his loving home from the wrath of the
manipulative, conniving Ian. In other words, Dave is only a
worthy father figure because the script tells us that he is, not
because we feel genuine warmth generated from Lee’s performance.
Alvin and
the Chipmunks will likely sell millions of tickets and DVDs
based on sheer name-recognition and novelty value. It’s
unfortunate for me to report this, given that it will represent
a complete waste of money on the behalves of the buyers. Now
that I can no longer hope for Alvin and the Chipmunks to
be an enjoyable experience, I have only one plea to make of God
and Nature as compensation: that the kids of future generations
continue to grow up with good ‘ol cartoon Alvin, not the
diluted, blasé C.G.I. excuse for a singing chipmunk seen in this
film adaptation. In fact, it would be a downright travesty for
the movie to do anything but gather dust on the shelves of
dimly-lit Blockbuster aisles in the coming years.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 12.16.2007
Screened on:
12.14.2007 at the Krikorian Vista Metroplex 15 in Vista, CA.
Alvin and the Chipmunks is rated PG and
runs 91 minutes.
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