Movie Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip $$$

 

 

PG

92 Minutes

Starring: Jason Lee, Josh Green, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney.  

Directors: Walt Becker.

            The Chipmunks return for another family film.

            I was disappointed with the last offering in the Chipmunk franchise so my expectations were not high. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the latest installment.
            Dave (Jason Lee) introduces the boys, Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler), and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) to the new woman in his life, Samantha (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). Getting a mother isn’t so bad, but she has a son, Miles (Jesse McCartney) who is as opposed to being related to a bunch of rodents as the chipmunks are to being saddled with an obnoxious human who delights in making their lives miserable.
            When the boys discover that Dave is taking an engagement ring on his trip to Florida they set aside their differences to break up the impending marriage. The Road Chip was funny and contained a good family message in the end.
            This is how I rated The Road Chip.

1. Fun – Absolutely. I enjoyed the movie from beginning to end. Lots of music. Lots of laughs. Lots of chipmunks running around doing what chipmunks do best. I gave it a full MB for fun.

2. Story – This is a Chipmunk story. Which means it’s fairly light on content and heavy on laughs. I didn’t find any blaring holes in the plot which would distract from my enjoying the film, but let’s be realistic—it’s the chipmunks running around and getting into trouble. I gave it half a MB for good chipmunk mayhem.

3. Technical – The animation was up to the typical standard you expect from a feature of this sort. However, I think they could have done more with the musical numbers to really make the movie POP. I gave it a full MB for fun chipmunk animation and some catchy tunes.

4. Acting – Jason Lee does well with the role of Dave Seville. Jesse McCartney is both likeable and unlikable at the appropriate moments doing a great job of portraying a teen who learns to embrace his new family. My favorite character in the film was Tony Hale as Agent Suggs. It would have been nice to have more direct interaction between him and the boys. Overall, I gave a half MB for acting. These are not Oscar worthy performances, but neither are they painful to watch either.

If you like the Chipmunks then I recommend you see this film. I suggest watching it as a matinee. The material was funny enough for me to watch again so purchasing a DVD is a possibility. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip scores a very respectable 3 Movie Bucks from me. See it and have some laughs.

                        Randy’s Rating System

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.