Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip is a 2015 American live action/computer animated family comedy film directed by Walt Becker and written by Randi Mayem Singer and Adam Sztykiel. The fourth installment in the Alvin and the Chipmunks film series, it stars Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Christina Applegate, Anna Faris, Kaley Cuoco, Josh Green, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tony Hale, and Jason Lee.

The film was released on December 18, 2015, by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed $235 million worldwide against a $90 million budget and received generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, along with the Chipettes - Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, set up a surprise birthday bash for Dave that also serves as a good-luck party for the Chipettes, who are scheduled to be guest judges on American Idol. Alvin invites and hires many people and celebrities to the dismay of Simon before Dave returns home in dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, Dave agrees to take them to mini-golf, and meet Samantha, the woman he has been dating for the past few months. While the Chipmunks like Samantha, her son Miles is a bully who physically abuses the trio. Later, the Chipmunks find an engagement ring in a bag Dave brought home and believe that he is going to propose to Samantha. They try to steal the ring, but are unsuccessful.

Dave has to produce a record for rising pop artist Ashley Grey in Miami, and decides to bring Samantha along with him. The Chipmunks and Miles are staying together, but they agree to head to Miami to sabotage the proposal. The Chipmunks drug three squirrels and dress them up in their clothes to fool their hard-of-seeing neighbor Ms. Price, who was asked to look after them. The Chipmunks travel on a plane, but Theodore lets out a monkey, which then lets out several animals which cause an emergency landing and bring the ire of unscrupulous Air Marshal James Suggs, who resents the Chipmunks because Suggs' girlfriend left him for being so into them at the time. As a result, they are put on the No Fly List.

The Chipmunks head to a bar and perform, but this is interrupted by Suggs, and they cause a bar brawl as a diversion. They jump into a cab sitting outside. After the cab driver learns that they cannot pay him, he kicks the four out of the cab. The Chipmunks and Miles rest, and he reveals that his dad left him when he was five years old. They raise money to take a bus to New Orleans, and sing "Uptown Funk" at the Mardi Gras parade, which gets the attention of Dave when it is broadcast on live television and allows for the Chipmunks to cause Suggs, who has followed them to New Orleans, to get drunk on moonshine.

Dave and Samantha meet Miles and the Chipmunks at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and proceed to take them to Miami. Because the Chipmunks are now on the No Fly List, Dave has to drive the boys over. When they get there, Alvin reveals that he stole the ring from the container, thus ruining the proposal. However, Miles had bonded with the Chipmunks and was upset that they were celebrating over this. He crosses the street with his headphones on and is almost hit by a car, but the Chipmunks swing Theodore and push Miles out of the way, saving his life. They agree to give the ring back.

During the dinner, Suggs catches up with the Chipmunks, but they trap him in an elevator. Miles and the Chipmunks return the ring to Dave, who reveals he never intended to propose to Samantha for the time being, and the ring belonged to his friend Barry, who is proposing to his girlfriend, Alice. Dave is very disappointed in the Chipmunks, so they try to make it up to him by singing a new song to him at the launch party with the help of the Chipettes, Ashley and Miles. Having forgiven them, Dave returns home with the Chipmunks and takes them to a courthouse, where he officially adopts them. Dave says that nothing could ruin his day, but after he returns home, he sees that the boys had destroyed everything. He then screams "Alvin!".

In a mid-credits scene, Suggs has escaped the elevator and decides to relax by the pool. Since he refuses to move, two security guards carry him out of the hotel.

Cast

 * Jason Lee as Dave Seville
 * Tony Hale as Agent James Suggs
 * Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Samantha
 * Josh Green as Miles
 * Bella Thorne as Ashley Grey
 * Eddie Steeples as Barry
 * Maxie McClintock as Alice
 * Retta as party planner
 * Uzo Aduba as TSA officer
 * Mark Jeffrey Miller as Cab driver
 * RedFoo (cameo) as himself
 * John Waters (cameo) as first-class passenger
 * Jennifer Coolidge (cameo) as Ms. Price
 * Laura Marano (cameo) as Hotel Babysitter

Voice cast

 * Justin Long as Alvin Seville, leader of the Chipmunks
 * Matthew Gray Gubler as Simon Seville, member of the Chipmunks
 * Jesse McCartney as Theodore Seville, member of the Chipmunks
 * Christina Applegate as Brittany, leader of the Chipettes
 * Anna Faris as Jeanette, member of the Chipettes
 * Kaley Cuoco as Eleanor, member of the Chipettes

Production
In June 2013, 20th Century Fox announced that a fourth installment, Alvin and the Chipmunks 4, would be released on December 11, 2015. In August 2014, Randi Mayem Singer signed on to write the fourth installment. On December 18, 2014, it was announced that Walt Becker signed on to direct and that the film would be released on December 23, 2015. The movie was officially released on December 18, 2015. It was also announced that the film would be titled Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip. In February 2015, Tony Hale joined the cast. On March 10, 2015, Kimberly Williams-Paisley joined the cast. On March 23, 2015, it was confirmed that Bella Thorne had joined the cast. Principal photography began on March 16, 2015, and ended on May 20, 2015.

Music
Mark Mothersbaugh, who previously scored Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, returned to score The Road Chip.

Home media
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 15, 2016.

Soundtrack
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the licensed soundtrack based on the film. It was released on December 11, 2015, by Republic Records.

Box office
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip has grossed $85,886,987 in North America and $148,911,649 in other territories for a worldwide total of $234,798,636 against a budget of $90 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Road Chip was released on December 18, 2015 across 3,653 theaters. The film grossed $4,126,717 on its first day and $14,287,159 in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247,966,675).

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 66 reviews and an average rating of 3.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "In some respects, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip is a marginal improvement over prior installments, although this in no way qualifies as a recommendation." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.