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Film Title: Alvin and the Chipmunks

 Best for ages: 7 and up.

Movie Website: Click Here

Year Released: 2007

Rated: PG (US) U (UK)

SYNOPSIS

   Based on the popular cartoon series, Alvin and the Chipmunks finally makes its debut as a CGI based chipmunk movies with real actor in the roles of the human being from the cartoon. The movie actually starts from the beginning when Alvin, Simon and Theodore meet their adapted father Dave for the first time. Dave at the time is a struggling song writer, but is also working a full time job at an advertising firm.  Dave has been desperately trying to sell his songs to his college friend, now turned record company CEO, Ian Hawke. However, Ian thinks Dave's song's are bad. After stealing a basket full of muffins from Ian's office, Dave brings it home only to find three Chipmunks invading his apartment. At first he tries to kill them, until they begin talking to him. Dave at first thinks he's going mad, until he gets to know them. But Alvin, Simon and Theodore begin to trash his house, so Dave kicks them out. That is until he hears them singing, and let them stay. They begin to write songs together. (The first being that famous Christmas song.) Soon they have a record deal with Ian's company, but when Dave begins to look after the best interests for his boys, Ian steals them away by giving them anything they want. However this is just a ploy to exploit the chipmunks and make a lot of money off of them. Dave must now try to save the chipmunks from Ian and his evil plans to milk the chipmunks for all their worth.

VIOLENCE/GRAPHIC CONTENT/language

   Alvin and the Chipmunks got it's PG rating for many reason. One being that there is plenty of scenes that are very similar to the likes of a Looney-Toons cartoon. Not that there is a lot of big things that could in fact inflict death on a human. But there are some scenes in which the Chipmunks are being chased by Dave with some kitchen utensils while he tires to kill them. The Chipmunks also knock Dave out as well, in the beginning of the film when they are first trying to get to know each other. This of course is before they know each other. There are a few scenes that involve people chasing after the chipmunks and are trying to hurt them, so this might be a concern if your younger children are sensitive to such scenes.

   The movie also has a few moral issues with it. One being that Dave at first does not care for a family, and the fact that he is going to adapt three chipmunks. There is even a scene in which the chipmunks explain how their parents left them.  There are scenes also where the chipmunks try to help Dave get a girls heart, but in a not so appropriate manner.  Dave does also steal a basket full of muffins from Ian office, and there is also the issue of the chipmunks being spoiled with luxuries and perceiving the fact that money is the key to life over love and family. This issue of course is the main focus of the film, that Family is in fact better than fame.

  The Chipmunks also don't seem to be the cleanest of animals and there is even a scene in which Alvin flocculates in Dave's face. The Chipmunks also eat a lot of food and make a huge mess when doing so.  There is also a scene where they drink coffee as a booster to keep them awake and are bouncing off the walls of a recording studio.

  So why the movie does have a few things that parents should be worried about, it's nothing too over the top where you might have to turn your child's head, but there is some things that might be a concern.

OVERALL VIEWS

   I grew up watching the Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoon as a kid. I loved it, at the time it was my favorite cartoon.  I even had a giant stuffed animal of Alvin that used to sing. Watching this movie bought back those good times as a kid, but it the computer generated chipmunks did not really do it for me. Don't get me wrong the movie was fun and it was entertaining, and it did include all the great element that make Alvin and the Chipmunks what they always have been. But the live action movie will never be the same as the cartoons we all saw as children. I'm sure many kids will love this movie as it is made for the next generation of Alvin and the Chipmunk fans. He has a lot of new and classic Alvin and the Chipmunks songs that I'm sure many children will love to sing along with and dance too.  The movie also has some great life lessons in it that children can also learn from. So why it does have a few things that might make the movie seem a bit unreal and at times maybe just a little bit violent, it does conclude with a good moral message.

   The DVD includes a lot of special features including the movie in both widescreen and full screen format, a Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History featurette, a Hitting the Harmony featurette and a preview look at Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! which is in theaters right now.

   Overall, Alvin and the Chipmunks is a film I would recommend for children over the age of seven, or for five or six years olds who can handle slight animated violence. Like I mentioned above the movie is not too violent, but there are a few scenes that involve a cat and mouse like chase.

BUY THIS MOVIE.