Week 2: Chipmunks The Squeakquel

Aloha! One my way back to the mainland, they played the movie The Squeakquel and I thought this would be a good YA movie to review for this assignment.

There are many reasons why I believe this movie would appeal to adolescents (and some adults). The Chipmunks has been a classic since I was little and, at the moment, remakes of classics have been very popular. It sparks an interest in the newer generation and resparks interest in the older generation. The movie pulls from many things that the adolescent world are interested in. It had its own version of "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent" in that there was a talent competition between schools. On top of that, it remakes classic and new popular songs. Who didn't want to see chipmunks shake their booty to their own version of "All the Single Ladies"?

The movie also appealed to the awkwardness teenagers feel and their struggle find themselves within the school community. Do you want to be considered a jock? nerd? popular? etc? Should these groups come first? Do you turn your back on what you feel is right in order to stay within that social sphere? It even addressed the topic of body image with the Chipettes. One was considered too short and round and the other too nerdy. In the end it taught that even with all these oppositions, you should always stay true to yourself, not what society tells you is right.

Is it just me, or is that a little too deep for the Chipmunks? Of course, there are the basics in humor and topics that always appeal to the adolescent world, including bodily humor, crushes, gaming, pain inflicted left and right on adult figures. . . (kids can be sadistic when it comes to that). On top of that, you get to see these tiny, cute, squeaky creatures wreak havoc and kick butt when we all know it isn't possible. Escape of realism, what a great thing.

I'm not a big fan of remakes. . . and then a second to the remake, but overall, the movie appealed to what adolescents find interesting now, but also appealed to what is happening with them in their own struggle to find themselves and their place in this world. Even with this deep stuff, it keeps it light and funny.