Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)

Directed by: Tim Hill | 91 minutes | comedy, family | Actors: Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Justin Long, Don Tiffany, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Jane Lynch, Jordan Green, Allison Karman, Tiara Parker, Kira Verrastro, Veronica Alicino, Alan Kemper Armani, Jay Bird, Jakob Bokulich, Celestina, Erin Chambers, Cherese, Kristin Crandall, Rico Devereaux, SP Donohoe, Nick Drago, Sommer Fehmel, Courtney Fleming, Chrystall Friedemann, Bryan Gaw, Ana Therese Lopez, Jayden Lund, Oliver Muirhead, Nicole Nogrady, Michael O’Hanley , Brandice Pentecost, La-Kay Pollard, Heaven Porteous, AJ Presley, Angel Princess, Dominika Pyk, Beth Riesgraf, Jameel Saleem, Greg ‘G-Spot’ Siebel, Jill Smalley, Tony Swift, Kevin Symons, Cher Tenbush, Joe Towne | Dutch voice cast: Levi van Kempen, Thomas Berge, Roxanne Hazes, Sipke Jan Bousema, Nicolette van Dam

From the first scene, in which the chipmunks Alvin, Theodore and Simon sing the song “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter in their inimitable way, the cute animals manage to conquer a place in the hearts of the viewers and this place becomes during the film no longer relinquished. It makes a difference that the makers have chosen to immediately play the strongest trump that the animals have in their hands: the chipmunks are the funniest when they sing. Fortunately, the storyline of ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ offers enough opportunities for the endearing trio to show their singing skills. Songwriter Dave Seville urgently needs an artist who can interpret his songs. When he performs one of his latest songs to his childhood friend Ian, who has a successful career with Jet Records, both Ian and the audience are convinced that a hit is not in it for Dave for the time being.

Dave is the type who seems to attract the bad luck, although he also has a big hand in it with his clumsiness. For example, the fear of committing has brought an end to his relationship with the nearby photographer Claire. When Dave returns home from his appointment with Ian without a record deal, he takes a basket full of muffins, which the chipmunks jump into. Once at home, the three rock his entire kitchen and Dave points them out, after the shock “Talking chipmunks!” to be obtained, the door. The transition from talking to singing chipmunks is not that big, because when Alvin, Theodore and Simon let their voices ring out in his garden, the deal is soon closed. Dave lets the ‘fab fur’ live at his house when they start singing for him.

When you consider that the actors, especially Jason Lee, had to act mostly in thin air, that increases the appreciation for their performance. Lee already had experience with playing loser-like types and it is therefore not surprising that he does well. Popje Cameron Richardson has a small role as Claire and provides the much-needed human-to-human interaction, although the romantic plot is not that deep, given the target audience understandable. David Cross plays the role of Ian, the music boss with dollar signs in his eyes, almost in a clichéd way. He manages to keep his role just within the limits, so that the hatred and envy are left behind. Themes such as the importance of family and the excessively heavy demands placed on pop artists are baked into it, but luckily this doesn’t bother us anywhere.

With a lot of slapstick humor, a few good comedic finds and nice animated critters, ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ is a fairly successful film in the genre. As a tribute to Ross Bagdasarian Sr. invented characters work best, although fans of the first hour will appreciate the pimped versions of some songs less. But they too will have to admit that a guitar rocking chipmunk on the opening notes of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” is really amusing. ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ is simply a fun feature film, guaranteed to bring a smile to the faces of younger movie audiences.