Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked

One of the most successful but also the most discriminated against franchises of our time is the Alvin and the Chipmunks film series. Most people over the age of 12 will look in exasperation or annoyance when they see an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie advertised or hear one of the high-pitched songs. But if only people could stop resisting and just sit back and watch the film, they would actually find the films are quality entertainment. Although they are in no way timeless and are sure to date as much as a record player or a typewriter, that only means we’d better enjoy them while we can. 
 
Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 – Chipwrecked is the most recent chipmunks film to be released since the first film hit cinemas in 2007 and the sequel – The Squeakquel – was churned out in 2009. It is also the most exciting and funniest of the three films. Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney return as the voices of Alvin, Simon and Theodore, with Christina Appelgate, Anna Faris and Amy Poehler as the voices of the Chippettes. The one thing in which these movies lack any sense is the pointlessness of the casting of celebrities for the voices of the chipmunks, as we could never tell it was them anyway. Nevertheless, the voices bizarrely fit the characters (I wonder how they chose the actors, just chipmunk the voice of every Hollywood actor and see if it fit?) and the animation of the chipmunks is better than it ever has been. Jason Lee and comedian David Cross return in their live-action roles as the chipmunks father, Dave Seville, and old evil record producer, Ian Hawke, and give their best performances out of all three films.
 
The film sees the chipmunks and chippetes taking a holiday with Dave on a luxury cruise, but end up shipwrecked on a desert island, where Alvin learns to be responsible, Simon learns to ease up more, and Theodore learns to be braver. Meanwhile, Dave and Ian follow them to the island and try to find them. The film features the most defined character arcs for the chipmunks yet, while it is nice to see David Cross’s character finally do something good, as he has been strangely likeable, despite his habit of putting the chipmunks and chippettes in cages.
 
I would recommend Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 to anyone of any age – you’re sure to enjoy it.