Review of Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) by Daniel K — 08 Oct 2010

Hmmm...I liked Alvin and the Chipmunks (the characters) as much as anybody when I was five, but was there really an audience out there clamoring for a "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie? I guess so, because this $60 million movie made a huge profit. Probably because every kid in the world wanted to see it and thus their parents went as well.

The whole arc of the movie was really flat. You got the distinct impression that the (weak) plot existed just to hang jokes on. David Cross as the villainous music producer Ian Hawke was the only bright spot, and it was kind of funny when Ian replaces Simon's traditional glasses for thick-framed "hipster" glasses. The rest of the movie was just physical gags and a poorly developed subplot with Dave Seville's love life. They threw in the established "Chipmunks" gag of Alvin trashing things, and Dave screaming "ALLLLVINNN!!"...like you didn't see that one coming a mile away.

This movie's just part of the huge trend nowadays for everything to be a re-make, re-boot, or re-imagining of an established franchise (V, Death Race, Knight Rider, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Karate Kid, Battlestar Gallactica, Doctor Who, The Hills Have Eyes, The A-Team, Star Trek, etc., etc...) It's like film/television producers think you won't give something completely new a chance. Well, maybe "The Squeakquel" will be better...