I didn’t have the heart to tell the truth when my youngest daughter asked me what I thought of Alvin and the Chipmunks:

The Squeakquel after watching it together. She laughed throughout the screening and, not surprisingly, branded it an instant classic. She thought it was better than Avatar. And Up.

Figured it should win awards, and a lot of ‘em. “Awesome” was the term most often tossed out with fervour. Did I mention she’s eight years old?

And that, my friends, is your basic long story short with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel; kids will adore it...and really, why wouldn’t they? It’s brimming with cuddly and mischievous CGI critters, bathroom humor, cheese balls, and it’s only 88 minutes long.

As for parents? Well....it’s only 88 minutes long. A follow-up to 2007’s surprise hit Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel (cute marketing there, huh?) picks up immediately after the events of the original, as Alvin, Simon and Theodore are internationally famous rock stars.

Their surrogate father, Dave (Jason Lee) begins the film with an injury, limiting his appearance to a few brief phone calls home.

Deja Vu viewers will know full well that Suzanne Somers pulled the same stunt when she was having a contract dispute during her Three’s Company days. If memory serves me, her cameo performances produced as many laughs as Lee’s bits do here. Not a ton.

So, with Dave’s slacker nephew Toby (Zachary Levi, probably best known as TV’s Chuck) watching over the trio, the chipmunks go to high school.

There, they meet the Chipettes, three adorable female chipmunks, causing a rivalry over who will get to sing at a fundraiser to save the school’s music program.

Oh, and the Chipettes’ manager is sleazy David Cross, who tangled with the boys in the first film.  And if you can’t predict the ending already, then give your head a shake, ‘cause my kid had this thing called within the first 30 minutes.

The reality is, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a bad movie. And the target audience won’t care one bit. While the original had a shred of throwback appeal for grown-ups, this one is just plain silly — obviously geared for wee ones, but with little care for the big people accompanying them.

And isn’t it amusing how they continue to cast stars like Justin Long, Christina Applegate and Amy Poehler as voices for the animated rodents? By speeding up the lines, it could be my next door neighbour voicing this stuff, you’d never know the difference. At least this Squeakquel is harmless. Unnecessary, sure. But harmless The feature is currently playing at Famous Players Seven in Vernon.