| Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel |
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Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Betty Thomas |
| Produced by | Janice Karman Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. |
| Written by | Jon Vitti Jonathan Aibel Glenn Berger |
| Based on | Alvin and the Chipmunks by Ross Bagdasarian The Chipettes by Janice Karman |
| Starring | Zachary Levi David Cross Jason Lee Justin Long Matthew Gray Gubler Jesse McCartney Amy Poehler Anna Faris Christina Applegate |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Cinematography | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Editing by | Matt Friedman |
| Studio | Fox 2000 Pictures Regency Enterprises Bagdasarian Productions |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | December 23, 2009 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $70 million[1] |
| Box office | $443,140,005[2] |
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Amy Poehler, Anna Faris, and Christina Applegate. It was written by Jon Vitti, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, distributed by 20th Century Fox, and produced by Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions. The film is a sequel to the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks and was released in theaters on December 23, 2009.
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During a benefit concert in Paris, France, David Seville is injured. Dave must recuperate and is forced to leave his aunt to look after the Chipmunks. Arrangements are also made for them to go to school. After another accident, the Chipmunks are left in the care of Toby, the grandson of Dave's aunt.
Meanwhile, Ian Hawke lives in the basement of JETT Records. Three singing female chipmunks, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, also known as the Chipettes, emerge and Ian hires them as plot to get back at the Chipmunks and revive his career.
While at school, the Chipmunks are bullied by jocks and visit the principal's office. They discover that the principal is a huge fan and wants them to help raise money for the music program by participating in a contest. Meanwhile, when Ian is shocked to find the Chipmunks on the front page of his newspaper. After he reads a story about him, he quickly sends the Chipettes to school.
When the Chipmunks meet the Chipettes, they fall for their counterparts, but are soon forced to have a rivalry after discovering that they are with Ian. Meanwhile Dave finds out Toby is watching the boys, and he quickly leaves the hospital. At the concert, the Chipettes sing and Alvin fails to show for the Chipmunks - who then forfeit. When Alvin finally shows, he finds the auditorium empty and is ignored by his brothers at home.
Soon, the Chipettes are hired. The concert is on the same night as the school contest, so Ian decides to blow off the battle and make the Chipettes perform at the new concert, opening for Britney Spears.
Alvin finds out that Ian has locked the Chipettes in a cage, so Alvin races off to rescue them while Simon tells Jeanette how to open the cage over the phone. The Chipettes manage to escape with Alvin, and they arrive just in time to perform at the contest. The Chipmunks and the Chipettes perform together and they win. Dave returns during the contest. Meanwhile, Ian gets into more trouble at the concert he set up for the girls when he attempts to imitate them. After the contest, Dave allows the Chipettes to stay with them. In a post-credits scene, the principal is making the jocks scrape gum off from under the bleachers in the gymnasium, and Ian ends up in a dumpster.
The film received mostly negative reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 20% of 80 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 3.9 out of 10.[3] Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", the film holds an overall approval rating of 33%, based on a sample of 9 reviews. The site's general consensus is that, "This Squeakquel may entertain the kiddies, but it's low on energy and heavily reliant on slapstick humor."[4] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 41 based on 20 reviews.[5]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film a C-.[6] Gleiberman wrote in his review with this question: "Will kids eat up this cutely fractious claptrap? Of course they will. They'll eat up whatever you put in front of them. But that doesn't make The Squeakquel good for them."[6] Sue Robinson from Radio Times said that "even if there's little here for older viewers to enjoy, youngsters will love the slapstick action and catchy soundtrack."[7]
Some reviews were positive, such as Joe Leydon, writing for Variety, calling it "a frenetic but undeniably funny follow-up that offers twice the number of singing-and-dancing rodents in another seamless blend of CGI and live-action elements."[8] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times commented on Betty Thomas' direction, saying that she brings "a light campy touch as she did in 1995's The Brady Bunch Movie."[9]
After the film had garnered $112 million worldwide at the box office over its first weekend, some critics were disappointed that it was more popular than other movies in wide release aimed at a family audience.[10][11] Richard Corliss of Time wrote that families "could have taken the cherubs to The Princess and the Frog or Disney's A Christmas Carol, worthy efforts that, together, took in only about a fifth of the Chipmunks' revenue in the same period".[12]
On its opening Wednesday, the film opened to #1 with $18,801,277, and finished the weekend at #3 behind Avatar and Sherlock Holmes [13] with $48,875,415 and a $75,589,048 5-day total, eclipsing its budget in only five days. Domestically, it is the 9th highest grossing film of 2009, and on March 7, 2010, it outgrossed its predecessor to become the second highest grossing film to never hit #1 behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding.[14] Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel ended its run with $219,614,612 domestically and $223,525,393 overseas with a total of $443,140,005 worldwide, which is higher than its predecessor.[2]
The soundtrack for the film was released on the first of December 2009. Bands Honor Society and Queensberry, along with Filipino singer Charice Pempengco, were all featured artists for both the movie and soundtrack.
A video game adaption was released on December 1, 2009 (the same day as the movie's soundtrack) only for the Wii and Nintendo DS.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel was released on DVD/Blu-ray on March 30, 2010 in North America, on April 12, 2010 in the United Kingdom and on June 2, 2010 in Australia.
Shortly after the film’s release on DVD and Blu-ray, Fox and Regency had announced that Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D was scheduled to be released on December 16, 2011. [15] The title was then changed to Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.[16] On January 22, 2011, Fox 2000 Pictures started production on Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked during a Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Dream ship. Filming took place primarily on the ship’s upper, open decks with scenes featuring actor Jason Lee (reprising his role as David Seville) and the antics of The Chipmunks in the Carnival Dream’s outdoor recreation areas. Stops on the itinerary included Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya (which provided tropical backdrops for many of the movie’s shipboard scenes).[17]
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