“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” is a derivative piece that is largely meant for the kid audience. For this third movie about the screechy-voiced, computer-generated rodents, these infamous characters and their exasperated but tireless father figure Dave find themselves in a short luxury cruise vacation en route to a music awards — until they get “chipwrecked” in a remote island. From here, they must find their way back to civilization before an impending volcanic disaster strikes.
This goofy but generally inoffensive flick by director Mike Mitchell is clearly losing steam as a family movie franchise. Unless grownups can find satisfaction from a shrill and silly plot that is kept laced with some generic, laugh-inducing animal antics, this kiddie frolic can most likely work with just the very young viewers. Chances are, teens and adults watching it would feel stuck in the middle of the ocean of boredom and ludicrousness.
Although still able to fuel enough energetic elements through its series of pop-culture references, jokes, and mash-ups from the likes of “Castaway,” “Lost,” “Spider-Man,” and the Looney Tunes character Pepe Le Pew, this movie mainly buries itself with a lazy pile of clichés. This time around, even its pop song covers don’t have that pristine charm anymore compared to its 2007 original. There are a few musical numbers that may still have some entertaining moments to keep the film afloat, but overall, the song-and-dance performances already feel tired and lacking the vim and vigor offered by the movie’s predecessors.
Considering how its humor mainly caters to very young kids, some conservative parents may raise their eyebrows in the gambling and seductive elements involving the singing munks. At the very least, the way they are presented on screen doesn’t go beyond today’s harmless and family-friendly levels.
For this top-tier work’s technical offerings, its sound and visuals host an entertaining series of high-pitched singing, family bonding and escapades, teen behavior hijinks, and comedy-adventure movie shenanigans. Although nothing ultimately spectacular, the CG presentations of the furry rodents and the story’s island backgrounds provide consistently crisp and well-detailed images. The squeaky songs, atmospheric sounds, and audio effects are adequate components for the movie’s surround mix. However, the dull and sub-par editing reflects such a jaded presentation of an utterly formulaic movie.
The film uses a poorly developed narrative that is forced to incorporate specific genre elements to showcase digital effects, slapstick stuff, and a sole new character joining the famous Chipmunks, Chipettes, Dave, and their former arch-enemy Ian. Merely relying on people’s familiarity of them, the human cast members don’t have much to flesh out in their roles. Their characterizations remain superficial and underdeveloped throughout the story. This becomes even more apparent in the movie’s only new major character named Zoe, the other castaway girl the Chipmunks and Chipettes meet in the island. While watching her on screen, she is more like an actress struggling to make sense of her superfluous character, which seems just forced to put a new but dispensable face into the singing rodents’ island adventure premise.
This franchise machine’s comedic moments become its saving grace. Most of these come from actor David Cross who wears a funny pelican costume throughout the movie. Meanwhile, the cute Chipmunks and Chipettes still find some fun and appealing moments on screen. At some point, Jason Lee’s acting looks and feels literally tired of the superficial aspects of the story.
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” is clearly a predictable piece intending to cash out through the previous two films’ established fan base. Now feeling quite devoid of inspiration, this underwhelming flick is still able to serve up some workable elements to help keep the franchise from getting into its own “chipwrecked situation.” However, this third offering already delivers a flimsy, uninspired, and instantly forgettable motion picture work that merely banks on the former laurels of its cinematic brand name.