Just watched the film a couple hours ago and this film is quite underrated by critics. This is without doubt one of the best of the CGI films. As a side note, please bare with this review as I usually watch something twice before reviewing (once to enjoy it and the second time to pick up stuff I might have missed and to remember what I watched) so things might be all over the place or I might have missed observations I would of wanted to talk about.
This is indeed in the Spoilers board, but I wanted to state there are many spoilers here, more so than above (though I don't reveal the big twist). Just saying.
The film immediately draws you in. The taping of Dave's surprise video was full of laughs. Alvin, being Alvin, quickly elevates the state of the party to the dismay of Simon but the writers find a way for Simon to have fun in a way he wouldn't anticipate himself doing. Sorry Dave but you had to have known they would of gotten in trouble by themselves.
I'll break quickly and talk about the animation. Wow. It is done so well this time, by far the best of the CGI films. The detail and the fuzziness of the boys and girls is awesome.
The girls break away from the boys and Dave in a way that's understandable and believable. They seem to move out though to live by themselves. Not a big deal in my book.
When I seen that the soundtrack was so short I was initially disappointed but after seeing the film the songs work great. They aren't singing something at every turn and there's good opportunity to have dialogue between the characters. There were more non-Chipmunk songs in the film in the background, but that's okay. The performances were great, giving the film a little bit of lift.
Miles was an interesting character, initially not caring anything about The Chipmunks. After finding common ground, they bond well until he actually likes them. He wasn't the antagonist many were expecting.
Theodore seemed much more open in this film, continuously saying things that would get them in more trouble. He also was more active and confident in himself. An improvement from The Squeakquel. Am I the only one who thought Theodore died for a second?
The squirrels. Set up the perfect ending to the film. Priceless.
Anyone else think Ms. Price was somewhat a take on Miss Miller?
Suggs. Wow. He's best described as an obsessive fan turned enemy (be careful older fans). His very frequent use of his title made some of his interactions seem repetitive but they worked okay. Classic agent who thinks he's all that because he has a badge. He was lots of fun though. The bar scene was very funny. The New Orleans party was by far my favorite though of him in the film (moonshine, crowd surfing, and tattoos, oh yeah).
The ending twist worked well and helped bring a confirmation about how the characters felt about each other. The film was about family and that message was quite strong. It's nice to see a strong message again like in many of the episodes.
"Home" is still my favorite song of the film. The performance was meaningful. True that it might not of needed The Chipettes to make the same point, I feel the song was better with them.
Lastly, I feel a need to address the crude humor. At least a few of you know my stance on crude humor; I don't think it's necessary to make something funny. That being said, I don't see much problem with how some of it's used in this film (there's not really much). The burp from Miles helped illustrate Simon's point. Simon's "instances" while in Miles' pants are also understandable given how incredibility nervous he was. The groin shot, well that wasn't needed.
Overall, a well done film. Chipwrecked is still my favorite (not because I think the final product is better than this one but because of Simonette).