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Alvin and the Chipmunks

One of the all-time scariest movies about the music industry

By Matt Pais

December 14, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Wannabe songwriter Dave (Jason Lee) writes a song for his new, young, higher-than-helium-voiced chipmunk friends Alvin, Simon and Theodore, and faster than you can say, "No contracts needed or child labor laws observed," they're on magazine covers and selling out arenas. So Dave tries to rescue his boys from a conniving record exec (sadly, David Cross) while also trying to win back his ex (Cameron Richardson).

Big question: Can director Tim Hill's adaptation of the '80s cartoon fare better than his last live-action/animation hybrid, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties"?

Skip it: Thank goodness Alvin and the gang are back so they can fart in Dave's face, say things like "'Sup playa?" and sing "Don't Cha" in the shower. Even if all you remember from the original show are the names and the theme song, it's best to leave the past where it belongs.

Catch it: To discover that Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" actually sounds less annoying when sung by chipmunks. OK, no surprise there.

Bottom line: The horrible animation is as contemporary as an unnecessary "Matrix" reference, and the studio probably didn't need to pay Justin Long ("Live Free or Die Hard") to play Alvin when any eight-year-old kid at a birthday party would do. When Dave calls the chipmunks creepy, unnatural and somewhat evil, he could just as easily be talking about the movie.

Bonus: The guys do belt out a decent rendition of "Funkytown" as if it were done by Blake Lewis. Though I fail to remember if that was before or after Simon put Theodore's feces in his mouth.

mpais@tribune.com

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