The latest offering of the Chipmunks franchise, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, is full of mayhem and madness.

In this movie, the musical career of the Chipmunks, Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler ) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney), takes a backseat while their ‘family’ life with their manager-now-turned father figure, Dave Seville (Jason Lee), is in focus.

Dave introduces them to the new woman he likes, Shira (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), and they like her instantly.

But when her son comes in the picture, things get a bit complicated as they don’t like him as much as he doesn’t like them and the idea of a future step-dad. The Chipmunks too are panic-stricken that Dave will abandon them once he has a new family and so two parties decide to set aside their differences and unite to separate Dave and Shira.

Dave goes to Miami with Shira on an assignment, leaving Miles with the Chipmunks, but the younger lot are not ready to do as they are told because the Chipmunks found a ring in Dave’s bag and think he is going to propose to Shira! Four of them set off the Miami, first on a plane where the havoc they create gets them on a ‘No Fly’ list so they continue by road and even sea!

From the opening credits to the closing one, there is craziness that kids will love, though there is a lot of toilet humour that should have been toned down considering that it is a kids’ movie. But the silliness is generally harmless.

The mix of live action and CGI-animation is a visual delight, but the shrill sound of the munks gets annoying at times.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 23rd, 2015