Alvin and The Chipmunks are a proprietary asset that the studios will simply never let go of. This is because these chipmunks sell like hot cakes, especially when it comes to children and during the holiday seasons. Everyone wants a feel-good movie, and somehow it always turns out to be a Chipmunks movie every once in a while. There is an issue with this though because these films seem to be getting more and more devoid of creativity.
How to Download Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
You can download the film from a digital store. You can also stream it. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also the previous films in the series – Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009).
The Movie Review
Dave, the Chipmunks, and the Chipettes board a cruise ship to travel to the International Music Awards two years after the events of the prior movie. Both groups of three end up causing problems on the ship, which naturally causes Dave to yell a lot. However, it will be none other than Ian, a former music executive, and manager of the chipmunks, who will start the real trouble whose evil plans will leave Dave, the Chipmunks, the Chipettes, Ian, and the Chipettes stranded on an uninhabited island in Hawaii. Of course, more problems will arise when they run into Zoe, a woman who has spent years stranded on the island.
The story of this film plays out essentially like an extended episode of a cartoon show. Dave and Ian are on a quest to rescue the Chipmunks otherwise the two humans would probably starve to death in the real world without the Chipmunks selling millions of records. Though, save them from what? Well, nothing, there’s a low threat situation that pops up near the end of the film but for the most part, there’s nothing to worry about.
The story is centered around the Chipmunk trio and their struggle for survival as each of them is going through something. Except for Theodore of course, Theo is just there to look cute. Simon and Alvin’s temporal transformation occurs just like in every film, but this time around Simon becomes French for some weird reason and he even becomes way more carefree. Meanwhile, Alvin dons the mantle of the uptight one hellbent on making it back.
To round things out, essentially nothing noteworthy really occurs and the film just runs on a plateau with no highs or lows. It’d have been better to just go out and seek some squirrels in real life for more entertainment value.
The Visuals
Visually, I would say this is the best of the bunch by far. Of course, the Hawaiian location and set design aren’t the best but the CGI is great and is a huge strength of the film. Not to mention, the voice acting by the cast is also splendid. You have phenomenal actors such as Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Janice Kurman who breathe life into their characters, while the Chipettes are a bit more one-note. The live-action actors are one-note too, making them bland and forgettable.
Sound & Music
The pop songs in the film are by far the only other saving grace besides the CGI Chipmunks, and they’re tremendously cute and there are a lot of them. However, even in this there lies a problem, not only are there way too many songs to count, but the novelty also wears off so quickly since there are SO many songs and at such random times that it just gets frustrating after a point of tolerating them.
The Verdict
If the holiday crowds are just as enthusiastic for more Chipmunks films, they will probably keep coming. We haven’t seen one in a long while but that doesn’t mean that they’ve completely stopped. The live-action characters didn’t even need to exist, they were just there to decrease the budget costs for CGI in this flick.
Director Mike Mitchell has created something so very uninspired and lackluster that he might have just sounded the death toll for this franchise, but alas, there was one more outing remaining before the franchise completely died out.
