Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked
Director: Mike Mitchell
Starring: Jason Lee, David Cross. Voices by Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Amy Poehler
**
If you have children under the age of six, you'll know that Alvin and his brothers Theodore and Simon are pop-singing chipmunks (courtesy of some swish CGI) who seem to spend their time creating chaos for poor human Dave (Lee) to clean up after them.
Following on from the success of the first two Chipmunk movies (the second of which introduced three warbling girl squirrels, the Chipettes), this third outing finds the nut-chomping creatures and their gals on board a cruise ship with their adoptive "dad". Poor Dave doesn't get much of a holiday, however, as Alvin's cheeky hang-gliding attempt sends all the chipmunks flying off the boat and crashing on to a remote island.
Disbelief has to be suspended in a major fashion - surely six chipmunks on a tropical island would get eaten by a snake, or something? - but little kids should enjoy the squeaky antics, even if they won't get some of the jokey references to everything from Titanic to Lost. They'll like the chipmunk versions of pop songs, too (parents, however, may shudder when the Chipettes gyrate to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance). The chipmunks are a fair choice for very little ones who have already seen Cat In Boots and Happy Feet 2.
