I don’t know if
it was Fox or Regency, but someone certainly seems to be losing faith in the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise, and
it is apparent in the slapdash manner with which The Road Chip was constructed. I’m not saying that these CGI
incarnations of the 1980s cartoon characters deserved much better treatment in
the third theatrical sequel to the mediocre 2007 film, but the entire
production feels like a straight-to-video movie. You know the kind; so poorly
made that parents will gladly let play on the television in the other room, but
would dread sitting through it in a theater.
I was never
close to crazy about the last three Alvin
and the Chipmunk movies, but the one mildly enjoyable element came from the
music. Even if forced to hear the songs through the high-pitched singing of
animated chipmunks, the high production values and hip song adaptations was
something distracting for both parents and kids alike. Though The Road Chip has a final production
number along these lines, there is far less music in this film with Dave’s
decree that the trio stop performing. I imagine it had a lot less to do with
Dave and more to do with the expense of song licensing, and with that the most
enjoyable part of the franchise is thrown out in favor of a generic storyline
which hasn’t been original since “The Brady Bunch.”
When Dave (a
transparently bored Jason Lee) begins dating a new woman named Samantha
(Kimberly Williams-Paisley), she comes with a terrible teenage son named Miles
(Josh Green). Miles bullies the chipmunks out of pure annoyance that his mother
is dating their “father,” so all four are horrified to discover that Dave is in
possession of an engagement ring. When Dave and Samantha leave the kids behind
for a trip to Florida
I could describe
more of the plot, but I think that is enough to predict everything that occurs
along the way. Apparently even the filmmakers know how predictable the road
trip narrative is, with the worst title of the franchise. The DVD includes a
digital copy, along with two special features that seem to indicate the
knowledge that the best of the franchise is in the past. There is a featurette
about the story from the past films, and a collection of the best songs from
all of the four films.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3/10
Historical
Significance: 2/10
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