One of the most enjoyable movies released for the year 2011 is the Alvin and the Chipmunks. Here we can read a sort of reviews from different points of views about the entire movie. I just hope you will like them all.
The story, based on the characters created by Ross Bagdasarian and Janice Karman, is wafer-thin. The screenplay (by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger), and the dialogues salvage the film to an extent and make it worth watching, especially for the kids, who may enjoy the antics of the chipmunks. The dialogues are witty and reflect emotions which the kids in the audience will relate to. But there’s little in the film for the grown-ups. On the flip side, it is not easy to differentiate between the six chipmunks, which leads to a lot of confusion at times. Also, the drama becomes boring in the latter half when the chipmunks and Dave start looking for each other. The climax is abrupt and it disappoints.
Director Mike Mitchell does a good job. He maintains the pace of the narrative, that too, in the absence of a solid story. Thomas E. Ackerman’s cinematography is fine. The animation is well-executed and not over the top. The editing could have been crispier