Now in all honesty, there were many things that I could've done for my 2nd anniversary like a series review of Twilight or even reviewing all the movie licensed games that I've come across. In the end, because there wasn't really much choice on what I could do, I decided to take a look at the 3 chipmunk films which as with everyone else, I find to be just awful. Honestly, I wish that all this film makers and studios should just leave these classic nostalgic cartoons alone because most things that are based on something popular, seem to always suck (Transformers, Yogi Bear, Flintstones and even that Facebook film, despite winning some awards, seemed to be very inconsistent with the real story, to name a few). But in all honesty, is there anything that I like from these chipmunk films? Let's find out:
Alvin and the Chipmunks
So the first film in the series (and honestly, it should've been kept that way, but oh well). What's there to know about it? Its basically the one that saw the chipmunks' rise to fame and fortune, from being just regular wildlife. They do this, by travelling with their cut down tree, to LA and come across a struggling songwriter known as David Seville (who we later refer to as Dave and is played by Jason Lee). After hearing what they can do, Dave then takes them to see his old college roommate and record producer, Ian Hawke (played by David Cross) which to begin with, doesn't go down well, until the chipmunks sneak into his house and sing to him, thus having him sign them on to his record company. Then for the rest of the film, the chipmunks must decide if they want to continue their fame and fortune with Ian, or return to their guardian as it were, Dave. Either one results in them continuing their fame and fortune regardless. Overall, there isn't really that much I can say about this film. The voices of the chipmunks are quite annoying at times (and they will give you a headache), the human characters, don't really get that much screen time as the chipmunks and to be honest, the film just made them boring and to be quite honest, I would say that this is just enjoyably bad. But this is just the start of a terrible series that will continue to be terrible. 7/10
The Squeakquel
Now believe it or not, this was the only film in the series that I went to see at the cinema, not by force, but by a unanimous vote by myself and friends, which I lost, which is unfortunate. I should also mention that you can't just copy and paste the same movie poster onto another because that can result in bad advertising and it shows that the film makers are making no effort whatsoever. But enough about that, let's get into the film. The title is stupid and I don't really see why they just could've used Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 as their title, but anyway. So the chipmunks continue to have fame and fortune, without Ian helping them, but their guardian, Dave gets injured and returns to LA to get treatment, leaving the chipmunks in the capable hands of their Aunt Jackie (who is not their real aunt if they ever had one, and is played by Kathryn Joosten), but she gets into a accident as well, so they are then looked after by her grandson, Tobin Seville (better known as Toby and is played by Zachary Levi), yeah, great start guys, just get all the human characters out of the way. Seriously that shows just how bad this film is. Anyway, the chipmunks are enrolled into a local human school (which I honestly don't see the point of at all) and they meet their female counterparts (prepare for more headaches), the Chipettes (another stupid name, if I ever saw one). Ian Hawke sees potential in the Chipettes and signs them on for a very similar experience to what the chipmunks had before. Overall, this is the worst in the series. Its bad because they add 3 additional annoying voices to give you an even bigger headache, they follow the same plot the first one half way through the film and there are just far too many adult jokes that just make this film as a whole, inappropriate for children, despite the marketing. Well, there's only one more to go, so it better be good, or we'll be doomed for all eternity. 6/10
Chipwrecked
And now, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the final film in this god awful series of films, again with another stupid title for a film and the same copy and pasted movie poster. As described by it's name, this one has the Chipmunks and Chipettes go on a Cruise ship with their guardian, Dave. On the ship, as predicted, they cause havoc, but it isn't long before Alvin makes a huge mistake with a kite and has all the little creatures get stranded on a island (and for anyone wondering, this island is not what an island would be like in reality) with Ian (who now works as the ship's mascot) and Dave, following them. The little creatures decide to do things on the island as a way of survival before getting rescued, and as you'll come to expect, its just more headaches, rolling eyes and everything in between. This film made it very clear that the film makers, clearly have not done their research into islands and it shows here. This isn't the worst of the series as it does have a different plot to what it was before which for the most part, works in all the wrong ways. Is this the best instalment? it's close to it, but with the bad marketing and the little to no research done, it's like the first one, just enjoyably bad and that's it. 7/10
So overall, like with all nostalgic cartoon remakes, this series sucks, but only because of the stupid film names, the copy and paste posters, the poorly executed jokes, the pop song covers and above all, the actual chipmunks themselves. I just hope that all film makers understand that making a film based on classic and nostalgic cartoons, won't always end well, unless they do their research and have a better understanding of the source material. These are just some of the many characters that were part of our childhood which we love and continue to love, but if you want to introduce these characters to a new generation of children, do your research, understand all of the source material and not part of it and then make your movie. It will go down well with everyone, both critics and movie goers alike. 7/10
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