Review of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015) by Chelsea R — 09 Jan 2016

I'll explain my 4 star review. Is it a great movie? Of course not. But it's a fun movie for kids, you know the audience it's intended for. My kid is probably the target age and he loved it.

It has enough modern, high schooly tones to feel like a "big kid" movie to him, even though it is obviously a "little kid" movie. And that's just fine. He got to see a movie and say, "Oh it's not just a fairy tale!" but still is very much age aimed.

And while it doesn't do the Dreamworks thing of trying to be deep enough in the humor to half target adults too, and it's too modernized to play the nostalgia card they way the Peanuts movie did, it is self aware enough to include bits of topical and subtle self depreciating humor that parents will have enough little in laughs to keep from being just miserable while watching on the family outing.

It will never sit next to your family's copy of Finding Nemo or Toy Story as a cherished memory, but it's not trying to, which is why I don't understand the critics pure contempt for it. All it is trying to be is a non-"Disney-esque" children's movie where the characters are modern and into the latest trends while staying tame enough that parents of little ones that think they're bigger than they are won't mind them watching at all.

And it does that quite well. Four stars, because it plays to it's intended audience perfectly.