I grew up on The Chipmunks. In fact, one year while I was in elementary school two friends and I dressed up as the trio for Halloween and won our school’s costume contest! So I’m not joking when I say my expectations for the film were high. I had all of their albums and knew all of the lyrics to their songs. I was concerned that in the attempt to modernize those songs they might muck it all up, but to my delight, they didn’t. The Please Christmas Don’t Be Late song remained unchanged and The Witchdoctor song got an awesome upgrade without losing the charm of the original.

I can’t praise this film enough. Against all odds the creative team here has recreated a magical story that has been around for over 50 years! If you loved Alvin and the gang when you were younger or are looking for a great new children’s story to introduce to your kids to… go see this movie!

Movie Grade: A