Film review: Alvin And The Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel

Published on Friday 18 December 2009 17:47

Director Betty Thomas treads a familiar path, driving a wedge between the tiny heroes, then reuniting them for a foot-stomping finale to the strains of We Are Family by Sister Sledge and Shake Your Groove Thing by Peaches & Herb.

The simplistic, linear plot holds no surprises, incorporating a boo-hiss, high-school jock villain who gets his comeuppance, wholesome lessons about friendship and self-sacrifice, and chaste romance.

If you didn't like the original Alvin And The Chipmunks, it's safe to say that the follow-up won't shake your groove thing either.

The Squeakquel continues the story of singing critters Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jess McCartney) in the cut-throat music business.

When the boys' surrogate father Dave (Jason Lee) is consigned to a hospital bed, the youngsters stay with nephew Toby (Zachary Levi) and Aunt Jackie (Kathryn Joosten), who enrols the chipmunks at high school - where the pop stars secure the nomination to represent their classmates at a battle of the bands.

Aggrieved former manager Ian Hawke (David Cross) enrols the Chipettes - aka Britney (Christina Applegate), Eleanor (Amy Poehler) and Jeanette (Anna Faris) - at the very same school, then petitions headmistress Dr Rubin (Wendie Malick) to give the final vote to the student body.

The battle of the rodent sexes, Chipmunks versus Chipettes, tests friendships to the limit.

Alvin And The Chipmunks 2 takes the second-hand plot of Bratz: The Movie and adorns it with computer-generated mayhem.

Youngsters will love the silliness of it all, with the odd concession to older viewers, such as the opening musical gambit, You Really Got Me by The Kinks.