We were really looking forward to seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and for the most part we weren’t disappointed. However there are some scenes that were entirely inappropriate, and language that was disappointing, neither of which were necessary to the plot and both of which considerably reduced our enjoyment of the movie.

The movie itself is formulaic, relying heavily on the same plot as the last Alvin and the Chipmunks - but that in itself was not surprising. What’s new is the introduction of three singing girl chipmunks - the Chipettes - what’s old is that the morally-bankrupt Ian Hawke is bent on exploiting and mistreating the Chipettes, right down to locking them in a cage just as he did the Chipmunks in the last movie. This time there is the added element of Hawke plotting revenge - against three rodents? Give us a break.

All this occurs while Dave is in the hospital following an accident with which the movie opens - in the scene in the hospital, Dave looks horrific, and it may frighten (or repulse) some younger children.

The other plot line, which is intertwined with Hawke’s attempt to claw his way back to the top by exploiting the chipmunk girl group, is that the Chipmunks get sent to high school. And they get bullied. A lot. There are scenes of one or the other of the chipmunks getting thrown across a room and smashed into a wall, hit with balls (which smash them into the wall), and dunked headfirst into the toilet (known as a “swirlie”).

There are also numerous “butt” references. Of course, ‘butt’ has become a widely-used and generally accepted part of our cultural vernacular, but we still find it offensive, and we know that many of our readers do as well.

But the scene that we found the most offensive and disgusting (the bullying scenes aside) was the one where Theodore, alone and scared after having a nightmare, asks to crawl in bed with Toby (Dave’s nephew, who is house-sitting while Dave is in the hospital recouperating). Theodore crawls in under the blankets, at which point Toby lets go a very loud emission of gas, then rolls over and blocks Theodore from being able to escape from under the blankets, leading to several minutes of Theodore choking and gagging and crying “oh no, the Dutch oven!” before he finally escapes, gasping for air. It was entirely disgusting.

For the above reasons, we are leaving the “do we recommend this movie” unchecked - because we would recommend it if it weren’t for those scenes; on the other hand, had we been forewarned, we might still have gone to see it, but not without discussing it with our child first.

The Kid Says:

This movie is not good for little kids. It seems as if there is too much romance going on for toddlers. There is a disgusting scene involving “dutch ovens”?!?!?!

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