Movie Review: "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" 12/18/15

This is a movie review for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip", released December 18, 2015.



Trailer

Cast
Jason Lee                         ... Dave
Justin Long                         ... Alvin (voice)
Matthew Gray Gubler         ... Simon (voice)
Jesse McCartney                 ... Theodore (voice)
Amy Poehler                         ... Eleanor (voice)
Anna Faris                         ... Jeanette (voice)
Christina Applegate         ... Brittany (voice)
Kimberly Williams-Paisley         ....           Samantha
Josh Green                         ...        Miles
Tony Hale                          ...     Agent Suggs



Plot

Dave has a new girlfriend (who has a teenage son), a new job and seemingly a new life. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore start wondering, when Dave says he's headed out to Miami and the trio finds an engagement ring in his room, is Dave going to get engaged and dump them? The only way to stop them is to team up with the terrible Miles (Dave's girlfriend's teenage son) to go on a road trip and try to stop the engagement. But can they make it? Is this the right thing to do?




Rating Criteria
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around. – characters, music, theme, story line, etc.





3/5 - *SPOILERS* This movie was better than the one previous ("Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked") but it still had flaws for a kids movie.

The opening scene is a surprise party for Dave but they didn't invite Dave. I mean, if you are going to the effort to make this huge party for someone close to you, don't you want to be sure that they can and do attend?

While on the road, there is a bar scene which is a combination of Matrix, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and Karate Kid. Like seriously, wtf in a kids movie. In a bar!

Bonus for relationship development between the Chipmunks and Miles. This development is the best for the four-plex movie series, honestly. At first, he was a complete jackass (pardon the language, but you saw the trailer, right?) and in the end, he was willing to be friends with the chipmunks. The development was the best part of this movie, which did justice to the "road trip" theme.


Okay, so the chipmunks got in trouble on a plane by releasing the pets from their carriers in the luggage area. And it caused a scene (can you even get from luggage below the plane into the main cabin?!). I understand the air marshall was mad at that whole situation but wtf for air Marshall Suggs chasing them from Austin to New Orleans to Miami. Just because he wanted them to pay for their mischief on the plane does not mean he should have pursued then that much. Oh, but listening to the chipmunk's Christmas song and having chipmunk paraphanelia around made his then girlfriend break up with them and therefore made him resent the chipmunks? But why the chase through the whole movie and then no resolution about his side-story?! Lame!


Thumbs down for drinking alcohol in New Orleans in a family movie. Sure, New Orleans is known for drinking during Mardi Gras but in a kids movie? Bad call.


Thumbs up for Miss Bee's rental car guy saying "Families come in all shapes and sizes." THANK YOU for something worth while!!! This is a good message to promote!


Seizure warning for "You are My Home" song. It is a great song (made me tear up) but the way they did the lighting was terrible. Oh, and though very pop, it was a decent end to the movie (but not the very last part). Here, for your viewing:

Thumbs up for Dave legally adopting the Chipmunks. Logistically, this is weird but it makes me feel gooey inside to show that Dave really wants them to permanently know they are a stable family.




Over all, a good movie. Few flaws (like drinking, being in a bar, going against the parents' wishes, etc) but a good movie. I think this was near the best of the four movies. I was almost surprised that Ian didn't pop his head in again, but thank goodness he didn't.

Anyways, that's my review! More reviews to come in the future (eventually). Thanks for reading!


~ Gracie


Contact me?

Twitter @gracie_delunac
Email graciemaedelunac@yahoo.com
Facebook https://facebook.com/GracieMaeDeLunac/

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Movie Review: "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" 12/16/11

This is a movie review for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked", released December 16, 2011.



Trailer

Cast
David Cross  ... Ian
Jason Lee                         ... Dave
Justin Long                         ... Alvin (voice)
Matthew Gray Gubler         ... Simon (voice)
Jesse McCartney                 ... Theodore (voice)
Amy Poehler                         ... Eleanor (voice)
Anna Faris                         ... Jeanette (voice)
Christina Applegate         ... Brittany (voice)




Plot
Dave decides to take the six chipmunks on a cruise to spend some time together as a family. Of course, Alvin finds a way to constantly get in trouble. One of these ways ends up sweeping the six of them (on a kite) off the ship and stranding them. They find an island but can they survive the island? And will Dave come looking for them?

Oh, and guess who else is on the ship? Ian. Yeah, reusing the same enemy. Will he be any better this time, the third movie of the series?







Rating Criteria
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around. – characters, music, theme, story line, etc.



2.5/5 -
Chipmunks meets Castaway/Swiss Family Robinson, honestly. The plot line very lacking and mostly predictable. Music was very pop and annoying, worse than the last two movies.

There was NO character development except Simon's Simone side and wtf was that?! Simon gets bonked on the head and adopts a carefree French-style accent. Shows Jeanette that he likes her and comes to her rescue quickly, just to end up trying to sweep her away (bedazzle her).

WTF was Ian on that ship for and what was the odds of him being on the same cruise. Seriously, the ODDS of the two being on the same ship (and Ian NOT getting reprimanded for his rudeness towards Dave, whom is a guest) is very low. And we have to accept it because it is how far Ian has fallen since he was so unfairly mean to the Chipmunks and Chipettes in movies 1 and 2? Come on....



Wtf was the dance off between some preppy girls and the Chipettes? Eleanor didn't "step" on the woman's foot; she bumped into her. And why were the women so b*tchy? I mean, they are chipmunks! Maybe the women didn't like small animals unless they were made into fur coats. And though both sides of the dance off were dirty (one woman picking Brittany up and using her as a hacky-sack, the other two chipmunks tripping the main woman, etc), it seemed that the Chipettes won. How? I don't know. It didn't make sense to me. Here's the scene, so you can make your own opinion:

Overall, as a stand alone movie, this sucked. As a continuation of the chipmunk movies, it did very little to live up to its predecessors. I almost didn't watch the fourth movie because this one left such a bad taste in my mouth. There were just too many small things that put me off (the girl on the island talking to some sports balls like "Castaway" as her companions, Simone being a stuck-up carefree character, the island gal having a "Tomb Raider" motive of why she is on the island and using a chipmunk to retrieve the gold from a nook though the island's volcano is about to go boom, Ian in general, etc.). Personally, I regret watching this movie but it wasn't a complete loss, I guess. I don't recommend it, unless you have a small kid that insists on watching it.


That's my two cents for this movie. Thanks for reading!

~ Gracie

Contact me!
Twitter @gracie_delunac
Email graciemaedelunac@yahoo.com
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Movie Review: "Ghostbusters" 07/15/16

This is a movie review for "Ghostbusters" (aka "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call"), released July 15, 2016.


Trailer

Cast
Melissa McCarthy - Abby Yates
Kristen Wiig - Erin Gilbert
Kate McKinnon - Jillian Holtzmann
Leslie Jones - Patty Tolan
Chris Hemsworth - Kevin



Plot
Four ladies (and their male receptionist) in New York become a group to fight against ghosts - "ghost busters".





Rating Criteria:

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.


3.5/5 - I was both pleased and disappointed by this version of Ghostbusters. The trailer said "30 years ago" there were some ghost busters and that there are now new ghost busters. HOWEVER, the new movie is NOT a continuation of the older movie.

Mind you, the group of four ladies is well balanced. You have very intelligent women, with a inventor in the group, trying to protect all of the city of New York from ghosts (that can be malignant). Of course, the mayor and all of the political powers that be in the town don't approve of the group, telling the media that the ladies are rogues and whatnot.

There are things I HATE about this movie, aside the fact that this is not a continuation of the older movie. *SPOILERS*

1. Patty having a race/gender issue when Abby didn't.

2. The stupidity of Kevin....

3. Logic of Erin getting all the way across the city and making it just in the nick of time.


4. Seriously, Stay Puft had to also have an appearance?! I am not surprised that the other cast members of the older movie had appearances but....

5. Crotch shot.... Really, WTF. Family movie? Seriously...

So.... Yeah, I don't like these five things and that's the reason for the knocked down rating. I would not suggest this movie for children without supervision. As a PG-13 movie, I also would not recommend it in general. It was nice to see the ladies in action and it had a decent amount of comedy but the gender issues this movie showed was messed up.

If you want to watch this movie because of the legacy the 1984 movie set, pass this by. I don't know if it was true to the comic, but this is not what you might think it is. The trailer does not do justice to the movie (for a non-continuation of the 1984 movie). It is a complete redo of the Ghostbusters, but with intelligent women and a stupid male receptionist.

Decent movie with its flaws. Don't spend too much money on this movie or (if you wanted a continuation of the 1984 movie) don't spend money at all on this movie. Your choice.


The end fight scene was fair, mostly. Definitely interesting for weaponry, though not for logic based on the Ghostbusters universe.

And, looking at the above clip as I write the review makes me want to downgrade the rating..... Actually just changed it from 4/5 to 3.5/5.


That's my thoughts on this movie. Thanks for reading! More movie reviews to come eventually.
~ Gracie Mae DeLunac

Twitter @gracie_delunac
Email graciemaedelunac@yahoo.com
Facebook https://facebook.com/GracieMaeDeLunac/






"Everything Wrong with Ghostbusters" by CinemaSins:

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