Plot: Alvin, Simon and Theodore have a gig at a theme park doing hourly shows. When they get lost while trying to find the awesome roller coaster, Dragonland, they stumble upon the attraction for Frankenstein’s Castle only to find that someone has made the lab inside very much real and has brought a real Frankenstein to life within it. The chipmunks are chased throughout the park by the creature, but later befriend it when they realize that he doesn’t understand what he’s doing. However, his creator won’t rest until he has a true monster wreaking havoc on the world.
Breakdown: This one is not quite as near to my heart as the Wolfman movie, but I definitely remember watching it. Thing is, this just didn’t air on TV nearly as much as the Wolfman one. *shrug*
We have a balancing act going on here. The animation is a little rougher than Wolfman, but the writing is funnier. The songs are about on par with each other with a couple being great and one being very meh. I’m a little disappointed that this movie doesn’t have a big song at the end like Wolfman, though, especially considering that a consistent plot thread through this movie has been Alvin and the Chipmunks trying to make and get gigs with the big movie premiere being the main one, which we don’t get to see.
The stories are also on par with each other with decent enough plots bogged down by making no sense in resolution. And, to be honest, this movie doesn’t make much sense in setup either. Why the hell did Dr. Frankenstein, which I assume is his name, need to travel the world to set up shop in a theme park castle? Surely there are many other abandoned castles to make a new monster or even a real lab to rent? That just makes no sense.
In regards to resolution, it’s basically just telling a group of people who are trying to attack Frankie that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Though it’s really weird that they reacted so fiercely in the first place. The damn park is seemingly having a Halloween-esque type of theme going on right now and Frankenstein’s castle is a friggin’ park attraction. It’s obvious Theodore is hugging him, and it wouldn’t be the slightest leap to assume Frankie’s a guy in costume.
Plus, the way they get Dr. Frankenstein out of the picture is by getting him permanently trapped in a Sammy the Squirrel (Mickey Mouse rip off) costume and making him the new mascot. Yeah, he’s permanently stuck in a costume. Won’t even try to cut it off or anything I guess. And even though he could easily leave and go back to mad sciencing (which he does at the very end anyway) he resigns himself to torturing himself as the mascot even though he despises Sammy the Squirrel. It just seemed rushed and poorly thought out.
I pretty much knew they wouldn’t kill Frankie or anything like that, but people now accept him openly? He’s a tour bus driver now? He speaks with a chipmunk voice because the boys taught him how to speak English?
All of that out of the way, this is a pretty good movie with some memorable moments, great music (though that friendship song can be barf worthy a little) and funny jokes. I’d gladly recommend it for a Halloween watch or for anyone who is a fan of Alvin, Simon and Theodore.
Speaking of Theodore, does every movie somehow end up about him? Or is it just the monster ones for some reason? Alvin does get turned into a ‘monster’ in this one (a fairly ridiculous monster, to be honest) but Theodore gets a lot of focus. Is there a movie that focuses more on Simon? I’d like to see that.
Recommended Audience: Outside of brains in jars and the clear indication that Frankie is a being made up of dead person body parts, nothing. 7+
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The Anime Madhouse 