Yes, I’m a kid at heart. All the people who don’t know me very well figured I had children just for the simple fact of wanting to be a Dad. Nope… I had kids so I could justify playing with toys, dolls, and seeing kid’s movies… all of which I love. I grant you, I prefer a lot of the kid related stuff from when I was physically a kid (it was a much simpler time), but I still get a kick out of some of the newer stuff. Case in point… the movie “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.” Most of my friends were reviled at the thought of going to see this part live action / part CGI film when it hit theaters. But not me. I grabbed the kids opening weekend and took them to see it… cause uhhh… I knew THEY’D want to go. And everything my friends would have hated about it were exactly the reason my kids and I had some good chuckles throughout. It was saccharinely sweet, extremely silly, and had some rockin’ chipmunk songs.

Alvin and the Chipmunks have been around for longer than I’ve been alive. They have popped in and out of popularity throughout the years, but always bring a lot of smiles to the kids. Today, the are popular due to various YouTube videos of songs that have had their pitch changed to emulate them, and over the last couple of years we’ve now had two new full length movies and a handful of animated features. The first full length film starred Jason Lee as Dave Seville, the man who discovered them and sent them to the top of the charts. In this sequel… oh, excuse me… Squeakquel… Dave sits out most of the film due to an injury he receives during a Chipmunk Concert. In his place is his cousin Toby (Zachary Levi), a slacker vidiot whose job it becomes to make sure Alvin (Justin Long), Theodore (Jesse McCartney) and Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) go to school and be just like ‘normal’ kids. The trio set about fitting in at high school, but like all new students, they are terrorized by the local jock.

Looming on the horizon is their old conniving manager Hawk (David Cross), who is now destitute and living on the roof of the record company he used to work for. His chance at revenge comes when he meets three new stars in the making, the Chipettes. Brittany (Christina Applegate), Jeanette (Anna Faris) and Eleanor (Amy Poehler), are tricked into thinking Alvin and Company are bad news and go to the same school in order to challenge their limelight.

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” is every bit as silly as the original, but for the most part it is good, clean fun. I say for the most part because I was a little taken aback when I saw the rating which was only PG, but added ‘some material not appropriate for children.’ That didn’t seem right for a children’s movie, and true to form, the studio opted to add in a few too many ‘butt’ jokes… ‘but’ what can you do. As long as I was watching it with them, I was prepared to deflate anything they might have decided to emulate.

I was rather disappointed that Jason Lee took a back seat to this film, but I love Zachary Levi in “Chuck” and thought he was pretty funny here. Overall everybody who came back for the squeakquel had fun with it, and it showed throughout. As always I enjoy the ridiculousness of the music and the situations, and without a doubt loved watching my daughter’s face light up every time they came on the screen. Now that the Bluray is out, we’ve already watched it 3 times and I have the Digital Download on my iPhone for her to watch whenever she gets the itch.

Speaking of the Bluray Edition, I once again applaud the studio for opting to go with the Bluray / DVD / Digital Download Combo pack. Having the extra copy of DVD comes in handy when your kids don’t have a Bluray in their room. Not to mention our truck only has a DVD player so watching it on the go becomes a lot easier with this extra disc. But I’m here to focus more on the Bluray disc, which offers up a decent transfer. Though I noticed that the picture is sometimes a little too bright and the clarity is not always crystal, the image overall is still worthwhile. I just turned down the brightness a little and that helped a bit. The sound quality is terrific during the concert sequences, so much so that my daughter has to get up and dance every time.

There are a TON of extra features offered on this release. Most are a little silly, like the movie, but I really enjoyed “Munking History: 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music.” In a little under ten minutes it gives you the background on the characters from producers Ross Bagdasarian and Janice Karmen. There is also a trivia track that you can turn on to give you little facts about the songs used in the movie, a look at how the Chipettes came to be, and a showcase of some of the bands that appear in the film. But wait! There’s More!!! You’ll also find featurettes focusing on the final concert sequence, interviews with the human stars of the movie (about what it was like to work with the iconic Alvin and the Chipmunks), how some of the scenes were put together using the ‘Stuffie’ stand-ins, and interviews on working said ‘Stuffies.’

The kiddos will more than likely enjoy “Shake Your Groove Thing! with Rosero”, where they’ll learn how to dance ‘just like the Chipmunks!!”, as well as a cool feature that allows them to make their own personalized Chipmunk Album. There’s even several music videos they can sing along to, if they so desire. All in all, it’s a pretty fun Bluray set.

All my friends will roll their eyes, but let them. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” is not here to win awards or change the world. It’s here to make us laugh… and laugh we did.

Directed by: Gil Junger
Starring: Zachary Levi, Jason Lee,
Extras: Munking History: 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music; Munk Music Machine; Meet the Chipettes, Rockin’ Rising Stars; Music Mania; Meet the Stuffies; Shake Your Groove Thing! with Rosero; Music Videos & Sing-Alongs “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “We Are Family,” “Shake Your Groove Thing”; Music Videos: (“You Really Got Me” featuring Honor Society & “The Song” featuring Queensberry); A-l-v-i-n-n-n-n!!! Album Maker; Live Lookup; Music In A Nutshell: Song Trivia; The Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking; A-NUT-omy of a Scene; DVD Copy; Digital Download Copy
Specification: 1080p (1.85:1); DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 3/23/2010
MPAA Rating: PG
http://www.munkyourself.com/

We'll give Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Bluray) a B.