Alvin und die Chipmunks 3: Chipbruch

I remember when I was a kid and this was popular. I guess all things are new again. This is the third of the Alvin movies that have been made. It's a blend of live action and computer animation. The story is cute and will engage kids of 5 and younger but I did not think it needed to be on the big screen. This was a movie that was fine on a straight to DVD release. A mix of pop music and funny life lessons about family that only rates a yellow light.

Alvin and his friends are going on a cruise to attend an international award show. They get into typical Chipmunk shenanigans on the cruse and in a series of events they get swept off the ship and land on an island. Dave (Jason Lee) and his arch nemesis, and previous Chipmunk manager, Ian (David Cross) inadvertently join forces to rescue them.

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To begin with, the G rating is all wrong - this is a PG movie, but obviously and attempt to lower the G movie standards as they did with PG movies 20 years ago. I originally gave this movie 3 stars, but changed it to 4 just because I actually like those little furry guys - it's not really their fault that the writers, producers and directors made a couple of BIG mistakes during this movie. In a G movies there IS NOT supposed to be suggestive remarks or anything below the belt of ANY kind and there was three of those: #1 Dave gets hot coffee spilled on his crotch. #2 Alvis shouts "My acorns!" #3 Zoe says "I just gotta wrap up my balls." As mentioned in another review - Zoe is the worst character and a mental case rip off from Cast away... they really blew it there, but she can dance! As also pointed out in another review - too MUCH singing with those squeaky high voices and in the wrong places. All in all the movie is okay, a bit corny and nothing I would buy on DVD. The first Alvin and the Chipmunks was original and they actually but some thought into the script, after that it went downhill with The Squeakquel where the humor was so out of place, especially with below the belt violence in the end. Chipwrecked may be a wreck, but better than the Squeakquel by far. Too bad, with a G rating I was hoping it was safe to take my girls to the movie theater - guess not.

I hate it when adults try to dissect a movie obviously addressed to kids and start talking about concepts and ideas and cliches and so on. Ask your kids if they liked it or not, that's all! Mine loved it and asked to see it again and again (they actually loved all the movies in the new series). So from a child's perspective the low rating is undeserved.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks" is a franchise that's been getting much popularity with many kids of passing generations. The film series, based on the 80's to 90's cartoon, based on the 50's album, tells the story of the relationship of Dave Sullivan taking care of 3 chipmunks who become rock stars, and it's been told as it's been. The film series is something that most people find to be anything, but masterpiece material.

With the first film, it was a decent film that introduced the new generation to Alvin, Simon and Theodore, on how they met Dave Suvil, played by Jason Lee, but didn't do as good as was expected. The film, however, was far from terrible, so it was something one could watch and enjoy from time to time. The second film however, didn't do as well as the first. It felt too much like the first film, with David Cross being the film's antagonist again, and repeating some of the same jokes. With the new film, only four words would describe it.

It's not the 'Squekquel'.

The new film does try to work in a new kind of concept and bring something new into it, but mostly falls flat due to most clichés. This is the only movie where David Cross isn't the villain and it doesn't involve any of the chipmunks or chipettes in cages. I do give credit for trying, but it's not enough to say that it's as good as the original. I'm not saying that it's TERRIBLE or anything, but it's not good either. Some of the jokes in the beginning along with some scenes with David Cross are what I seemed to have laughed. The pop-culture references and songs sung in the film are sort of recognizable, but some aren't ones that I'm not very fond of.

Another thing that is kind of upsetting is the cast of characters. If they're going to alter the voices anyway, then they could've just gotten some new actors to do it anyway. But then again, some people are desperate for work and will do anything for a paycheck. Would I say it's bad? Mostly, but it has it's moments sometimes. Would I pay tickets for this in the theater? Technically, I did, but for others, I'd wait to rent it.

I really didn't care much for "Alvin and the Chipmunks," and so to be honest I never even bothered with "The Squeakquel." I did, however, choose to inflict "Chipwrecked" upon myself (in the company of my daughter, who's 8.) I can say without any doubt at all that she's too advanced for it. There were a couple of scenes that elicited a chuckle from her - and I think one got a chuckle out of me, but that was it. There were other scenes that caused her to engage in her favourite hobby of drawing, while I mercifully caught up on some sleep two or three times. This is not a good movie.

The story is empty throughout and silly most of the time. Yeah, I know, it's about singing chipmunks, so of course it's silly. But still. And the evil Ian is still a part of this. I really found him irritating in the first movie. Why is he still there? The title of the movie more or less explains it - the chipmunks are on a cruise heading to the International Music Awards when they're accidentally cast away on a deserted island. (And, yes, there is great homage paid to the movie "Cast Away" in this.) But there's really just nothing to maintain interest in this.

If you're over the age of 5, you probably won't get anything out of this. The 5 and under set might appreciate the undeniable "cute-ness" of the chipmunks. But having seen this, I do hope it's the end of the series. (2/10)