Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Alvin and the Chipmunks

also known as “Alvin ja pikkuoravat,” “Alvin och gänget”
MPA Rating: PG-Rating (MPA) for some mild rude humor.

Reviewed by: Melisa Pollock
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Kids, Teens, Family
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family, Kids
Length: 1 hr. 32 min.
Year of Release: 2007
USA Release: December 14, 2007 (wide)
Copyright, 20th Century Fox Animation Copyright, 20th Century Fox Animation Copyright, 20th Century Fox Animation
Relevant Issues
Copyright, 20th Century Fox Animation
click for Kid Explorers
Adventures in the rainforest! Learn about the Creator of the universe by exploring His marvelous creation. Fun for the whole family with games, activities, stories, answers to children’s questions, color pages, and more! One of the Web’s first and most popular Christian Web sites for children. Nonprofit, evangelical, nondenominational.
Featuring Jason Lee, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., Janice Karman, Don Tiffany, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Jane Lynch, Jordan Green, Allison Karman, Tiara Parker, Kira Verrastro
Director Tim Hill
Producer Ross Bagdasarian Jr., Michele Imperato, Janice Karman, Karen Rosenfelt, Steve Waterman
Distributor Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Trademark logo.20th Century Studios, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company

The story begins with Alvin, Simon, and Theodore living in the forest storing nuts for the winter in a hollow tree they call home. Their tree is cut down and so begins the adventure of “Alvin and The Chipmunks.” We learn how Alvin, Simon, and Theodore came to meet Dave and see the beginning of their path to STARDOM.

I listed the movie as having mild violence, because of some of the action scenes: for example, in anger, instruments are thrown outside; a gallon jar is dropped on Dave’s head from a cabinet knocking him out, while there are comments about needing a shovel and garbage bags; balloons sucked into a ceiling fan while a chipmunk is holding them, etc.

As for the potty humor, like the “raisin” that was dropped on couch and eaten by one of the chipmunks, there are a couple of those, but not excessive, very minor.

It appears that Hollywood has given the chipmunks a makeover. The cute, innocent chipmunks I remember from childhood have been made into “Rock Stars” throughout much of this movie. Many of the songs and even the style of singing are more rock/pop style, complete with the dancing moves of today. In rehearsal, one of their record producers/managers is showing them moves, dancing, and saying 'Give us some booty, spank it, spank it' while hitting himself on the backside. The girls who dance on the stage behind the chipmunks are wearing low rider jeans and mid-drift blouses/jackets revealing several inches of skin between the two. Some of the women in the audience are wearing very low cut blouses, revealing cleavage. In another scene, Dave had invited a woman over for dinner; the chipmunks were talking amongst themselves, “How’s it going?” “Terrible, they’re not even sniffing each other.” “They need some help from Dr. Love.” The chipmunks put on some music with what sounded to me like some very suggestive lyrics. The scene has some talking and action in it, so you can’t make out all the lyrics but the few I heard were, “ahhhhhhh, slip, slide on down,… not ashamed, listen baby, 12 positions” Dave turned the music off and told the chipmunks to stop. There was one instance of using God’s name in vain, but in Spanish: the phrase “madre de Dios” (mother of God).

The issues I have mentioned are present in the film, but they appear to be minor, not in your face or excessive. Most of them sound worse in writing than they actually appear in the film as you are watching it. I think part of it could go unnoticed, unless you were expecting it or watching for it.

Overall, the movie was entertaining, and most everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Violence: Mild / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—This is a wonderful movie to take your children to. I loved it and I’m not a big fan of movies.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Mary Guzmun, age 46
Positive—Take your kids to this one because they’ll love it. This movie is funny… Jason Lee did an awesome job.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Jonathan Tran, age 24
Positive—This movie was so cute! I loved it! Very good for all audiences! The humor was very cute and clean and was extremely well done with no innuendos that I could find. It seemed to me that the importance of family was being pushed greatly and the love of a family. I loved it! I was not offended in the slightest! For VERY young audiences there may be slightly scary scenes; however, I went with my 14 year old brother and he didn’t seemed to be phased in the least bit.

I was very pleased with the humor! It was clean, and I didn’t see anything that should offend anyone. I am a pastor’s child, and I have been sheltered my whole life. I saw this movie expecting it to be Hollywoodized; however, it was not. I was thoroughly pleased by the film! It is a great film for everyone in the family! Mom and dad will laugh at the same things the children will! It’s a family friendly film! A wonderful selection for the whole family!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Shannon, age 18
Positive—Great movie!! My 12, 9, and 7 year-olds loved it, and it kept their attention the entire movie. Great family movie and entertainment. We have been singing chipmunk songs ever since!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Sherrie, age 40
Positive—I have rarely enjoyed a film as much as I enjoyed watching “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” In a film such as this it would be easy for it to be corny, or to be littered with the type of jokes that kids wouldn’t understand, but adults would. Luckily this film had neither. The things the reviewer mentioned as objectionable are there, but they are easily ignored. The comedy felt right, the acting was good and the story was interesting and made sense with the Chipmunk mania. Oh and in a film with three talking (squeaking) chipmunks there are plenty of adorable moments.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Rhonda, age 21
Positive—Great movie!! My 12, 9, and 7 year-olds loved it and it kept their attention the entire movie. Great family movie and entertainment. We have been singing chipmunk songs ever since!…
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Sherrie, age 40
Positive—As a home school mom, I appreciate what this movie was trying to be—clean, cute and cuddly. I just wish it could have stayed more wholesome. Provocative dancing and suggestive background lyrics (not from the chipmunks, but the people) made me uncomfortable. I would say this was a fun movie, but not as clean as it could have been.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Diana O, age 38
Positive—I loved this movie!! It was so cute, and exactly what I expected when I walked in… and more. I was with a friend in their 30’s, and even she was laughing! We were actually laughing out loud in the theatre, and that is really rare now a days, especially to find a movie that’s clean enough that it’s not nervous laughter. I really enjoyed it, and recommend it!!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Rhonda, age 23
Positive—it was so cute! There were small little things. but they are hardly noticeable, unless you are looking for them! The movie was delightful and easy on the eyes and ears. Not too deep or meaningful though!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Maggie, age 21
Positive—The story shows a change in heart in Dave that I think is significant. Up to his change, I was annoyed with his character. His change is a change for the better—that all of us need to make when we realize our treatment of God’s creations is selfish. I was also happy with the way Dave was watching out for the best interest of the kids (chipmunks). The boys were tempted by the lifestyle that their producer wanted them to live. His only interest was to get them away from Dave so that he could exploit them, a fact that I would have thought Dave should already have known. Most normal human beings would have realized his motive. The kids learn that having everything they want at the expense of a loving father is not happiness. I think these were very appropriate lessons for children of any age to see and talk about after the movie with their parents. With the exception of a date scene, where Alvin puts on some inappropriate music, I felt it was great. I, also, do not believe that the words were prolonged or audible enough or even obvious enough to warrant being concerned. My kids didn’t even repeat any of the lyrics after the movie, which as many of you know, young children are prone to do. I couldn’t actually hear the lyrics, but the way Dave reacted I guessed it wasn’t good. Great movie for all ages.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Chris, age 41
Positive—I wasn’t really that keen to see this movie, I decided to go with some friends thou. It was a good movie, I wouldn’t go see it again in the movies but I enjoyed it. Good quality, Quite funny and very cute. I was surprised at the amount of sexual jokes made by the chipmunks (who are portrayed as kids in the movie) though, and a lot of the band performance scenes had girls with a lot of midriff and cleavage showing—obviously meant to show the sort of culture/lifestyle of the music industry—but not suitable for a kids’ movie. Good message about family vs. fame, and very funny in parts (had me in stitches!), but I recommend watching it before taking younger kids to see it.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Bethany, age 18, Australia
Positive—When I went to Theater near my neighboorhood, I saw a Alvin and The Chipmunks; I love the movie so much. The chipmunks are cute and funny. I can’t wait to get it in dvd and watch with my nephews. I love the Alvin and the chipmunk so much, I was the biggest fan of the chipmunks when I was a little kid.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Bobby, age 28
Positive—I felt like this was the best movie I have ever seen in blending animation against real live pbackgrounds and interaction with real people. The writters did an excellent job, making what I think is the HIGHEST QUALITY FAMILY movie in years.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Shane Dodson, age 32
Positive—I have read several of the comments on here, including some from some younger people. I must admit I am quite impressed by how well-versed and articulate our young Christians are shaping up to be. I found this movie to be heartfelt and sweet. I do admit there is some mild dancing and alcohol is portrayed in MODERATION. Niether of which are really all that offensive to me, being a professional dancer. Kids may pick up on the innuendo or not, I guess this is just where we get to use that little common sense and judgment portion of our brain that hopefully God did give all of us as adults. We must seek God’s wisdom and decide what is right for our own individual families.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Megan, age 21
Positive—Loved the movie, but I was wanting a rendition of the “Were the Chipmunks” song that was the intro to the 1980’s cartoon. How can they leave that song out, or the song from the Chipmunk Adventure animated movie called “Rock N' Roll” sung with the Chipettes, I hope these two songs are in the next Chipmunks film, nothing wrong with updating the Chipmunks sound which they did with the more hip/hop sounding stuff, but out of respect for us who watched Alvin And the Chipmunks cartoon from 1983 thru 1990 it would be nice to have the two above mentioned songs included, also the duet song “Up Where We Belong” by Alvin and Brittany a true classic from the cartoon. You can watch all three on youtube.com.

And can Alvin wear his red hat instead of the hoodie ???
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Larry King, age 27
Positive—This was a very entertaining movie with a fantastic soundtrack! In my opinion the movie did a pretty decent job of depicting the trouble a young, naive singer (or group) could get into if duped by a manipulative and greedy agent or other influential person. I thought the chipmunks learned—albeit the hard way—that family and happiness should take priority over fortune and fame. Some viewers have commented on the “worldly” aspect of the movie such as skimpily clad back-up dancers, etc. Well, in this world we all share, such things exist. In the end, the chipmunks forsook all of that to be with the person who had treated them with love and nurturing, rather than the one who had exposed them to all that glitz and glamour in the first place. You can’t expect kids to learn how to choose the higher road if they don’t ever know the lower road exists, can you? I think this was a fun family movie and would recommend it to anyone with children of any age. My own children all enjoyed it greatly.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Angela, age 36
Neutral
Neutral—ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS surprised me, because I was apprehensive, but after viewing with a friend and her toddler, I must say I was glad for the emphasis of family over greed and fame. Though the CGI chipmunks were adorable and the actors chosen to do their voice were good, the potty jokes were old and not funny. However, the story did sag a little, and referring the chipmunks as children, their songs were marketed to the adults, and there weren’t any children in line waiting to get an autograph. Even the toys were given to the adults. For a children’s film, there’s very little children involved.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
Mang Yang, age 35
Neutral—I took my 8 and 5 year old to see this, and they loved it. Unfortunately, there was a few comments I didn’t appreciate, like when the man was with his girl friend the chipmunk says“'she wants you” and makes a chicky wa wa sound, and, you guessed it, my boys keep saying it, and I’ve had to ask them to stop saying it, because they don’t understand the meaning behind it. But, otherwise, it was very cute—lots of catchy song tunes, a good lesson that having everything isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, and family is the most important thing. They learned that living a wild life was not healthy for them, and all they wanted to do was go home and be loved. And, yes, there was a moment that one chipmunk broke wind in his face, and the whole cinema laughe,d but it was funny and harmless fun. I would say this was okay, and fairly harmless fun, and, if you knew me—I’m very strict with what I let my kids watch.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Jane, age 42, Australia
Negative
Negative—BORING!! I found myself looking at my cell phone more than once for the time. I was expecting it to be quite funny, but it failed miserably. The only thing that redeems this movie is the fact that the chipmunks are cute. …Do not waste your money on it!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 2
Kate, age 19
Negative—In my christian walk I am realizing how important it is to protect myself and my family from occult and witchcraft. Even the smallest door opened can lead to catastrophy in your home. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and thought of it quite innocent until these chipmunks starting singing a song called “Witch Doctor” and came dancing out of a witches cauldron. What a way to ruin a perfectly innocent movie. For me—I am not willing to risk having this influence in my house, even as small as it is.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Rhian, age 33
Negative—Based on biblical values it is extremely offensive and not appropriate for children or anyone… honestly I think people here forget what they are rating on. Read your bibles! This movie… even this children’s movie invites us to look upon women lustfully. Check it out! They’re barely dressed shakin' it to chipmunk grooves. Doesn’t anyone wonder why the chipmunks are singing to adults where alcohol is being served? What happened to the children?? Don’t settle and let the world decide what is okay for your kids to absorb, they will become calloused to sin. If you watch the movie, do so without your children first and watch all the sexual innuendo and adult-themed “humor.” See for yourself if it is something the Lord would have your children subjected to.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Heather, age 32
Comments from young people
Positive—This movie ROCKS. I loved it! It’s a great family movie.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Lizzie, age 15
Positive—You should spend your money on this movie. This movie is a real good movie. Alvin, Simon and Theodore’s voices can be annoying. Theodore is funny. My favorite is Alvin.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Lance, age 10
Negative—“Alvin and the Chipmunks” started off really cute, but when it got more into the middle of the movie, it got a little inappropriate. Some of the women had cleavage showing, and this movie also had a more worldly perspective on spoiling the chipmunks. As I recall, it did not talk about God or about giving to the poor or any of that stuff. So I do not recommend this movie for young Christians. And I recommend that if you have children that the parents should go see this movie first. My dad and I left in the middle of the movie, so I did not see the end of the movie. So O did not see the entire thing.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Katelyn, age 9
Positive—I loved this film. The characters were very good. All the actors and actresses were very good. If you were to see this movie with your kids, it would be a very good to watch.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Cecelia, age 12
Positive— I loved this movie!!! I grew up watching “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” And they did a great job bringing to life the chipmunks I have grown up watching and loved. They also did a great job in casting the Dave character. The movie was good, no offensive stuff. Just a little worldly in the aspect of Christmas. There famous Christmas song was song the one where “Christmas don’t be late.” The movie showed greed, and lying. But also the consequences and in the end everything was corrected. I laughed, as I saw my own personality in each of the chipmunks, from cute Theodore, smart Simon, and sassy Alvin. I think that anyone of any age will like this movie.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Nora, age 15
Positive—I am extremely relieved that I did not see as many negative opinions for this movie. I thought this movie was adorable. …
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Chrissy, age 17
Positive—This was the best movie I have seen in a LONG while!! I know it sounds a bit young for teens but its actually HILARIOUS!! I loved it. Oh my gosh. I bought the soundtrack for my ipod! I recommend it for ages 4 to 72! It’s definitely made for families! It really teaches the meaning of parental love! I almost cried, and I am dead serious! No offense against Chrisitans. IT’S ALL AROUND BRILLIANT!!…
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Emily, age 13
Positive—This movie is my favorite in the world. I’m usually not allowed to see PG movies, so I was happy to see it. I was also very pleased to hear that there was no cursing except I think there was Oh My G… Anyway, I give this movie 2 thumbs up! It’s definitely worth your money.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Lindsey Harrington, age 11
Neutral—This was not a very good movie, I have seen better and there was rude Humor in it and I don’t recommend it for people with little kids because the little kid down my row copied everything they said. I’m 12, and I did not find it entertaining or funny.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 2½
Michelle, age 12
Positive—I love this movie it is so good, and super cute I own it on DVD and I watched it in the movie theater
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Elise, age 12
Positive—This movie was great! It was very cute, and I loved their voices. I was laughing through the whole movie. I recommend it to all ages.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Megan Cory, age 14
Positive—If you wanted to watch a movie that you can bust out laugh, WATCH THIS MOVIE! This movie is watchable anytime. If you had a choice to watch this movie or hang out with your favorite actress, WATCH THIS MOVIE!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Cody, age 12
Positive—Me, my mom and my two sisters saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. We all loved it. We were laughing most of the time! There was one scene at a party that was a little offensive. The girls were dancig and dressing innapropretly. But besides that, there is nothing offensive in this movie.I recommend this movie for all ages.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Kathryn Graham, age 11