JamesG
12-24-2009, 07:18 AM
Movie Reviews: Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
One of the most surprising blockbusters of all time was the original Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, which grossed more than $217 million in the U.S.
The sequel (or "squeakquel" as its called in the title, is not likely to perform as well, although several critics are advising box-office followers to expect the unexpected.
Not that they can find much to praise about the film; most of their reviews sound as if they wish they could be writing about something else.
Comments Claudia Puig in USA Today; "For anyone over age 8, the arrival of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel may not be the most welcome news."
Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle brought his four year old along to the screening, who, he says, "laughed pretty much nonstop throughout." However, he writes, "despite its success as a babysitter for preschoolers, it's a not a very good film."
Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News says the "movie's plot is a hodgepodge of standard kid-film elements."
Tongue firmly placed in cheek, Betsy Sharkey comments in the Los Angeles Times: "Perhaps not since The Godfather: Part II have we seen a sequel come along that more than matches the mastery of the film that came before it -- all the pathos, the brio, the epic sweep ... the cheese balls"
Actually Sharkey's is one of the few positive reviews of the movie. "The script includes enough clever moments to help put The Squeakquel in solid family entertainment territory," she concludes.
And Michael Sullivan in the Washington Post pays the movie this left-handed compliment: "Call it a Christmas miracle, albeit a minor one: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel isn't entirely awful."
-IMDB News
One of the most surprising blockbusters of all time was the original Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, which grossed more than $217 million in the U.S.
The sequel (or "squeakquel" as its called in the title, is not likely to perform as well, although several critics are advising box-office followers to expect the unexpected.
Not that they can find much to praise about the film; most of their reviews sound as if they wish they could be writing about something else.
Comments Claudia Puig in USA Today; "For anyone over age 8, the arrival of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel may not be the most welcome news."
Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle brought his four year old along to the screening, who, he says, "laughed pretty much nonstop throughout." However, he writes, "despite its success as a babysitter for preschoolers, it's a not a very good film."
Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News says the "movie's plot is a hodgepodge of standard kid-film elements."
Tongue firmly placed in cheek, Betsy Sharkey comments in the Los Angeles Times: "Perhaps not since The Godfather: Part II have we seen a sequel come along that more than matches the mastery of the film that came before it -- all the pathos, the brio, the epic sweep ... the cheese balls"
Actually Sharkey's is one of the few positive reviews of the movie. "The script includes enough clever moments to help put The Squeakquel in solid family entertainment territory," she concludes.
And Michael Sullivan in the Washington Post pays the movie this left-handed compliment: "Call it a Christmas miracle, albeit a minor one: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel isn't entirely awful."
-IMDB News