Alvin and The Chipmunks: Good Movie

Alvin and Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel(2009), directed by Betty Thomas, like the film before it is about 3 singing and dancing chipmunks Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney), and Simon (voiced by Matthew Gubler) but unlike in the first movie where we see the three becoming rock stars, this time they already are and will face where most teenagers their age (whatever their ages are) go to, school. And this time, they will be once again harrassed by Ian who now have new acts, Brittany (voiced by Christina Applegate), Eleanor (voiced by Amy Poehler) and Jeanette (voiced by Anna Faris), the Chipettes.

Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 was an interesting movie, combining silly CGI characters with real world people and places, it was truly an entertaining movie full of singing and dancing while learning the importance of family and team work.

The plot semeed a bit repetitive to me, since it mostly mirrored the 1st movie where the antagonist hires a set of chipmunks, act nice and dazzle them, before he shows his true colors, cage them, then the chipmunks escape. The 1st movie it was the Chipmunks, by the 2nd it was the Chipettes. Though aside from that, I liked it since it was arranged well and had a nice build up of events.

"There's no I in team. But you know where there is an I, Alvin" 

- Ian

The acting was good, although not much of Dave (Jason Lee) was shown on this film as he was replaced by Tobi (Zachary Levi) as the Chipmunks guardian after Dave got into an accident during a charity concert, actually it was suppose to be their Aunt Jackie (Kathryn Joosten) to take care of them but she got into an accident as well. Tobi was alright and he seemed very subdued, even when yelling or angry; he didn't make moves that were flashy as compared with the antics of the chipmunks, and he played the role of 'socially awkward and shy' very well. Ian (David Cross) on the other hand was pretty good with his villain role, the way he held himself was already a clear indicator he was the bad guy even from the beginning of the film. As for the other actors and actresses, they all did well as well including the CGIs of the 6 chipmunks, though there were times when they interacted with real people where they seemed a bit strange but there were few of these time. Character development was good too especially the growth of Alvin, Tobi, Eleanor, Jeanette, and Theodore. I especially like Tobi's growth from shy to 'finally getting the girl' and from indifferent guardian to friend for the Chipmunks. 

The direction was also good, I applaud Betty Thomas for it sicne it must've been quite difficult to direct people to interact with characters that aren't there, especially when objects on set have to be moved like the bed covers and food and such. Also, some shots would've had to be taken with nobody there at all, so I'm very impressed with his performance.

The set design was good though there were many shots that were repentant like with the front of Dave's house and the school front entrance staircase, it seemed like those shots were only to establish setting change and time in the film. Variety would have been good as well, i guess. There weren't much background music either, or none too prominent and I think that was good since it gave the movie more realism, it didn't evoke much emotions from the audience but that's alright.

Overall, a good movie, expected of Hollywood continuity. The build up was good and the set and CGI were good.

Also, Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 shows people that you should not always think only of yourself especially when people are counting on you as with the case of Alvin during there competition with the Chipettes, and that as family, we should work together and not fight. Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 also shows that despite how small you are, you can still fight and outsmart those bigger than you though there will always be room for discrimination on your part for your size as seen when the Chipmunks were at the airport and airport and at the 1st day of school in the hallway.

Sincerely,

Zacharias Walker

(Lily) (Will)

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1231580/fullcredits#cast
http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/alvinandthechipmunks2_poster.jpg
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/24700000/Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks-the-chipettes-24749671-382-400.jpg