"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" - there, that's the only pun you need

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is the "squeakquel" to the 2007 live-action Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Alvin (voice of Justin Long), Simon (voice of Matthew Gray Gubler), and Theodore (voice of Jesse McCartney) are still superstars who now live happily with Dave Seville (Jason Lee), but when he is sent to the hospital, they are placed in the care of Dave's son, slacker and drop-out Toby Seville (Zachary Levi). At the request of Dave, Toby sends the Chipmunks to West Eastman High School, where they either fit in for being cute or are bullied for being small. Principal Rubin (Wendie Malick, TV's Just Shoot Me!) is a closet fan of the Chipmunks, and tells them that the school's budget is low, and there's a chance to win $25,000 for the school at a sing-off, so she enters the Chipmunks into the competition. Meanwhile, the Chipmunks' former record dealer, Ian Hawke (David Cross) is now homeless, living on the streets outside Jett Records, but vows to get his revenge on the Chipmunks... and it looks like he may be able to do just that, as a FedEx truck brings him three female chipmunks, known as the Chipettes: Brittany (voice of Christina Applegate), Jeanette (Anna Faris, The House Bunny, Observe and Report, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Scary Movie) and Eleanor (Amy Poehler, TV's Saturday Night Live, Baby Mama). The Chipettes recognize Ian as the man who made the Chipmunks famous, and want the chance to meet them. Ian takes them up on their offers, seeing it as a chance to crush the Chipmunks and to get back to where he was. But what happens when the Chipettes and the Chipmunks start to fall for each other, the Chipettes don't listen to the Chipmunks' warnings about Ian, and Alvin's popularity gets to his head and he starts fighting with Simon, much to the sadness of poor Theodore? And why does the Chipmunks' homeroom teacher, Julie Ortega (Anjelah Johnson) look so familiar to Toby?

... There really isn't much to say here. If you've seen the first film, you know what to expect. Now, I'd heard rumors that the plot is sort of a High School Musical/Glee rip-off, but I fail to see how it is. So if people sing and it involves high school, it automatically ripped off High School Musical and Glee? As a fan of both franchises, I spotted more differences than similarities. I guess maybe they were referring to Alvin getting good at sports and ditching the musical being similar to Troy from the first High School Musical, but that's completely different. In High School Musical, Troy was already skilled at basketball and he wanted to be a singer, and Sharpay and Ryan tried to eliminate the competition by telling the teacher to schedule the musical and basketball game at the same time, so they had to work together to resolve this conflict. In this case, Alvin's popularity gets to his head and he simply ditches his brothers with no question. And how in the world is this like Glee? I can't spot a single similarity outside of high school and singing/sports conflicts, but again, it's different. In Glee, the principal of the football game tries to sabotage the glee club and doesn't want it in their school. In Alvin 2, there really is no onscreen "sports principal". Anyway, back to this film... I actually cried somewhere toward the end when Theodore had to endure Simon and Alvin's bickering, and there was somewhat of an action sequence toward the end. I like the slapstick comedy they used too... don't worry, the only real pun is in the title. I'll say, it is different seeing the Chipmunks at this size interact with kids, when in the cartoon the Chipmunks were kid-size and not chipmunk-size, but on the other hand, if it's live-action, seeing kid-size chipmunks may come off as scary.

The film scored a well-deserved PG rating... I guess maybe the violence is of the most concern. At a concert in Paris, Alvin tosses his guitar over the rafters and tries to catch it, but swings on it, knocking over a bunch of things in a Rube Goldberg style of events, sending Dave flying (we don't see the impact, but we later see him in the hospital with a bruise on his face). The Chipmunks mess with the bed buttons, which move Dave around while he's injured. Dave puts the Chipmunks under the care of his Aunt Jackie (Kathryn Joosten), but Toby accidentally kicks her down two flights of stairs (again, no impact) and now she's in the hospital. During a phone call, Dave's stress monitor goes up as he yells his trademark "ALVIN!!!" Alvin, Simon, and Theodore nearly get stepped on in the hall, and during a dodgeball game, Simon and Theodore are knocked out; Alvin is seemingly knocked out, but he gets up with the ball in hand. Simon gets a "swirlie" by some kids, and Toby gets a swirlie in a flashback, as well as getting hit by dodgeballs and getting pinched (he has a "Pinch Me" sign on his back). Theodore is confronted by an eagle, who is seemingly about to eat him, but Alvin runs in and lures the eagle to him (they're okay). Eleanor tosses her mini-platform shoes at Ian, and a mini-motorcycle hits him in the crotch. Dave, still in bandages (but out of the hospital), slips on a skateboard, and we hear some crashes as the camera turns away. In a scene at the end of the closing credits, three security guards toss Ian into a dumpster. Of course, there's little in the way of sexual content, aside from some suggestive dancing by the Chipettes during a cover of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (we don't hear any suggestive lyrics in the film). Alvin kisses a girl's finger and says something foreign... Alvin lies to David about Aunt Jackie "pole-dancing"... Alvin tells a crowd to "Shake what your mama gave you" before covering "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb... not much really. Dave and Alvin are given sedatives so they can sleep, but that's the only real "drug". There's some name-calling ("fatty ratty", "taco boy", "loser", etc.).

If you liked the first film, then you'll definitely like this one. If not, then you won't.