Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Dave (Jason Lee) takes the Chipmunks and the Chipettes on a cruise ship. Ian (David Cross) is bitter for losing his job and is now the pelican mascot. Alvin's irresponsible ways get the Chipmunks stranded on a tropical island where they encounter Zoe (Jenny Slate) who has been stranded for 8 or 9 years. Dave and Ian get thrown overboard and washed up on shore.

This is pretty horrible for the first third. The Chipmunks are so fake already. Putting them on cruise ship only adds to the glaring artificially of the whole enterprise. This seems hopeless but the movie adds Jenny Slate to joke about 'Cast Away'. It should be a straight shot to spoof that movie. Zoe could ask the Chipmunks about the world in the last 8 year and they could make up a lot of fun misunderstood news. There are a million ways to add comedy to this but I don't think the writers care. This is strictly for the littlest kids and any real jokes are superfluous.

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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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.

I sort of enjoyed the previous two movies, they were not great movies but I found them quite cute. I wish I could say the same for this latest instalment, but I can't. It does have its moments, Jason Lee and David Cross are decent and have some entertaining exchanges. The film apart from some slapdash editing does look reasonable with the chipmunks looking serviceable and the scenery beautiful.

Best of all is Theodore, he always was adorable and made you want to cuddle him and here is no exception.

On the other hand, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked feels rather lacklustre this time around. The pop songs was a bonus in both of the previous two movies, here they sound really tired with generic melodies and forgettable lyrics. The vocals themselves are okay, not too annoying considering the tone, but again nothing out of the ordinary. The messages about family ties and responsibilities are important ones but they seem rather forced here.

The script generally was weak, there was very little that was fresh or funny for me apart from the exchanges between Cross and Lee, and there are some lines that have been covered in previous reviews that really don't belong in a family movie. The story like the previous two is predictable, except this time around it is not as charming or exciting.

I didn't care for the characters, excepting cute little Theodore. Zoe the eccentric castaway is more annoying than endearing, and something about Alvin rubbed me up the wrong way, he came across as too much of a jerk in some scenes. The acting/voice work is mixed, I liked Cross, Lee and Jesse McCartney, and Justin Long and Matthew Gray Gubler are alright I guess even with the bad material, but Jenny Slate didn't raise a single smile and the rest ranged from adequate to bland.

All in all, not as tortuously bad as some have said, but it wasn't anything special to me. By all means I understand why some may like it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Alvins And The Chipmunks:Chipwrecked is a terrible movie,the three Alvin And The Chipmunks movies aren't well received but to be honest I enjoyed the first two,but this one is absolutely awful,in the first two they sing a lot but at the right time,in this they just sing whenever they feel like it,but the thing I hate most about this movie is the god awful Zoe,played by Jenny Slatewho is just a stupid character,although I do like The Chipmunks themselves,not so much for the Chipettes.

The Chipmunks,The Chippettes and Dave go on a cruise on there way to the international movie awards,but The Chipmunks and The Chippetes get stuck on an island (long story) and Dave separately gets stuck with Ian Hawke in a pellican suit.