Salt Lake Tribune Review
Almost 50 years after producer Ross Bagdasarian sped up his own voice and achieved novelty-song immortality, his characters get their own movie. Alvin, Simon and Theodore are plucked from their woodland home and end up with Dave Seville (
Jason Lee), a struggling songwriter who realizes his new roommates could be a musical sensation. The Chipmunks have some charming and humorous moments, such as when Dave teaches them a Christmas song (the one about a hula hoop). But director
Tim Hill, a whiz at mixing live-action with computer animation (he also did Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties), can't do much with a by-the-numbers script that features gratuitous bodily-function jokes and a darkly unfunny plot in which the Chipmunks fall prey to a nasty record executive (
David Cross). And who decided Witch Doctor - with its nonsense lyric Oo-ee, oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang - needed a hip-hop update?
- Sean P. Means
The rundown: Computer animation brings the singing rodents to the modern world, in this occasionally humorous but usually hackneyed kiddie comedy. 90 minutes. (S.P.M.)
Synopsis: Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are back in director
Tim Hill's computer-animation/live-action hybrid following the further adventures of the world's most adorable singing trio. Songwriter Dave Seville (
Jason Lee) has been struggling to gain recognition in the music industry for some time, and despite the fact that his former college roommate (
David Cross) is now a high-profile powerbroker at Jett Records, Dave still can't manage to get a break. Things soon start to look up, however, when Dave discovers three singing chipmunks hiding out in the branches of a Christmas tree in Jett Records' world headquarters. Realizing that these woodland crooners cold prove to be his ticket to the big time, Dave does his best to transform Alvin (
Justin Long), Simon (
Matthew Gray Gubler), and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) into the next great pop sensation. As adorable and talented as they may be, though, these bouncy little critters aren't quite domesticated just yet; they still have a wild streak in them a mile wide, and it isn't long before Dave's life, home, and career are in utter chaos. But staying mad at such lovable little creatures is next to impossible, no matter what kind of mischief they might get into.~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
