Susan Granger’s review of “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip” (20th Century-Fox)
Combining live-action with computer-generated characters, this is the fourth installment in the chirpy chipmunk series that began in 2007.
As the plot unfolds, mischievous Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), chubby Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney) and studious Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler) are concerned that their beloved surrogate dad/manager, Dave Seville (Jason Lee), is so overly amorous with his ER doctor girlfriend, Samantha (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), that he’s bought an engagement ring. They’re terrified by the idea that Dave will abandon them when they become a family.
So the furry friends reluctantly team up with Samantha’s loathsome, teenage son, Miles (Josh Green), to travel from Los Angeles to Miami, where they think Dave is about to propose. Problem is: en route, one of the chipmunks accidentally frees all the animals in the cargo hold.
Obviously, the disruption of an airborne menagerie irks the federal air marshal, vengeful Agent Suggs (Tony Hale), who promptly threatens them with prison and puts them on the No-Fly list.
Scripted by Randi Mayem & Adam Sztykiel, based on anthropomorphic, strato-falsetto characters created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., and the Chipettes created by Janice Karman, and directed by Walt Becker (“Wild Hogs”), it’s predictably filled with pee & poop jokes which tiny tots seem to find hilarious.
FYI: there’s one amusing ‘inside’ remark: when treated disdainfully in First Class by subversive, idiosyncratic director John Waters, snippy Alvin retorts, “Don’t judge me! I saw ‘Pink Flamingos’!”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip” is a tediously silly, slapstick 3 – more of the rollicking rodents.
