Out of morbid curiosity, and the fact that Fox sent me the DVD to review, I popped the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie into my DVD player for a perusal this morning. It was everything I wanted, only more. Or not.
As a child, I grew up watching the cartoon show, and, despite the CGI-animated chipmunks and Jason Lee once again selling out to family audiences, I had to see the movie. Okay, "had to see" may be a bit strong, but I definitely wanted to see just how much Fox messed a childhood classic up. This retelling has the three chipmunks, now computerized rather than animated, moving in with struggling songwriter Dave and developing a popular Christmas song. They go on to fame and popularity, but at what price?
Alvin and the Chipmunks is decent enough, if uninspired. The movie has enough goofy antics to appeal to young audiences, as the chipmunks run amok in Dave''s house. Aside from visual gags, though, there isn''t much to the movie at all. Once the film switches gears and focuses on the chipmunks as rock stars, the wheels pretty much fall out from under the bus.