Cast: Jason Lee and voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney

Director: Tim Hill

For 50 years, three singing chipmunks have had the world fascinated enough to get them two Grammy Awards, and several TV shows and motion pictures. This is the latest.

The chipmunks are cute enough, and the animation - merging them with real-life characters — quite impressive. But there is little to keep one interested for very long.

The worst that happens to the chipmunks is a record executive who wants to exploit the new singing sensations to make the maximum money out of them, and who inveigles himself into their life by pretending to be their Uncle Ian, who gets them the best food and toys.

In the other corner, offering home and unconditional love is Dave Seville (Lee), who discovered the chipmunks, wrote their first songs, and feels they are just kids who should be allowed to live normal lives. On Christmas, the first for the chipmunks and which they have been looking forward to for months, he gets them savings bonds.

Yes, yes everyone knows that Dave/Dad has the chipmunks' best interests at heart. But if it is the kids Alvin and the Chipmunks is aiming at, it lost them when the first remote-controlled helicopter gifted by Uncle Ian flew by.

Strictly for chipmunks fans, and obviously there are many.