Let me first say that, while I didn’t think much of the first film, the Squeakquel was actually not bad, largely because it had something resembling a plot and the introduction of The Chippettes added an extra dose of fun. So, unlike many reviewers, I didn’t go to see the third adventure of the singing rodents already determined to hate it..
Unfortunately, I left finding it very hard to come up with many recommendations to see it. It’s a lazy film that exists simply to take the ticket money. For a start, almost no effort has gone into coming up with a story.
Looking for a little relaxation, surrogate father Dave (Jason Lee) decides to take the Chipmunks, - Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) – and The Chippettes – Brittany (Christina Applegate, Jeanette (Ana Faris) and Eleanor (Amy Poehler) – on a luxury cruise en route to performing in a music awards show.
Naturally, despite Dave laying down the rules, it’s not long before Alvin’s up to all sorts of mischief, creating chaos and providing excuses to have people falling over a lot. However, when he attempts hang gliding, he and the other ‘munks get blown off the ship and wash up on a desert island.
Likewise, in an attempt to rescue them, Dave too goes overboard and is left behind as the ship steams on. Not by himself, however. He’s accidentally got himself hooked up again with his old nemesis, the Chipmunks’ former crooked manager, Ian (David Cross), who, having lost his record company job (he passed on Justin Beiber twice) has been reduced to dressing up in a pelican costume as the cruise’s onboard entertainer.
They too wind up on the island, with Dave persuading the begrudging Ian, still in costume, to help search for his lost charges.
Meanwhile, having fun playing castaways, the ‘munks have discovered the place isn’t as deserted as they thought. They’ve met up with Zoe (Jenny Slate), who’s apparently been marooned on the island since her plane crashed ten years earlier and, now a few sandwiches short of a picnic, spends her time talking to various sized balls with painted faces.
So, irritating Alvin gets to grow up and become responsible, uptight Simon, courtesy of a personality-changing spider-bite, unlocks his inner dashing (French) adventurer, Dave learns to mellow out and even Ian comes good. Oh, and yes, Zoe turns out to not having been quite telling the truth about the real reason she’s on the (what turns out to be active volcano) island.
And that’s pretty much it. There’s the usual (mercifully short) songs and dance routines (including a mildly amusing dance fight between the Chippettes and three of the ship’s passengers) and knockabout slapstick, the ‘munks talk in those high pitched helium voices that are (thankfully) largely unintelligible to the older generation and, with cavalier disregard for narrative or plausibility, the screenplay introduces all sort of random elements at will.
Now, to be fair, there are some nice touches involving Simon’s matinee idol romancing of Jeanette and scene stealing cute ‘big boned’ Theodore scaring himself watching a horror movie or lovingly making a necklace for Dave to wear for his meal with the Captain.
The 3D doesn’t add much to the experience, but the CGI animation is excellent. There’s even a few seconds of actual tension involving crossing a log bridge over a deep chasm as well as the occasional pop culture joke (references to Cast Away, Lost, Charlie Sheen, Keira Knightley) for any grown ups who haven’t sunk into a coma
On the other hand, while Cross sensibly goes down the panto villain route, Lee just looks bored with the whole thing while Slate is so atrociously wooden they could have made a raft out of her.
Low on charm, its almost pre-school CBeebies feel lacks respect for its young audiences too who, after the likes of this year’s Hop, Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda and Cars 2, might reasonably expect a little more than cute furry creatures and a couple of recognisable pop songs.
BBFC Guidance: Contains mild comic threats.
LGWTC Guidance: Under 8s will probably enjoy the silliness, but for everyone else this is the dictionary definition of ‘chip’; thin, flat and worthless.