MPAA Rating: PG/ Genre: Live-Action/Computer-Animated Action-Adventure Comedy/Stars: Kiki Layne, Seth Rogen, Chris Parnell, Paula Abdul; Voices of: John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Keegan-Michael Key, J. K. Simmons, Flula Borg, Tress MacNeille, Tim Robinson, Dennis Haysbert, Da’Vone McDonald, Corey Burton, Jeff Bennett, Liz Cackowski, Rachel Bloom, Steven Curtis Chapman, Charles Fleischer, David Tennant, Alan Oppenheimer, Jim Cummings, Mason Blomberg, Juliet Donenfeld/Runtime: 97 minutes
It was in the long ago year of 1943 that audiences first met a pair of mischievous animated chipmunks by the names of Chip and Dales respectively who through their various shenanigans quickly found a way to both find a way into the hearts of audiences worldwide and also become beloved characters in the Disney legacy respectively. As a result, we saw that Disney decided to do something quite special with the pair and in 1989 gave them their own show on an iconic animated schedule which included now equally as iconic shows like the likes of DuckTales, TaleSpin, and Darkwing Duck known as Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers which, much like its titular duo, still has its fans to this very day (myself being one of them). Of course, with the inevitable (yet surprisingly successful) reboot of DuckTales happening a few years ago, I guess it wasn’t long before a return from those delightfully rascally chipmunks and their Rescue Rangers teams was to be expected. As a result, we have now gotten such a product in the form of an Disney+ original movie penned by two of the writers of 2020’s Dolittle (uh-oh!) and helmed by the director of 2016’s highly underrated Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (hmmmm). Yet the biggest surprise to come from all of this isn’t so much that we got this slice of cinema. Rather, it’s the fact that we got something this genuinely entertaining let alone good. Indeed it might have its fair share of flaws, but there is no denying that through terrific work on both sides of the camera let alone a beautifully zany sense of humor, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers manages to do a wonderful job of being not only a movie for the family, but also the best unofficial successor to the masterpiece that is “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” that older audiences could have ever asked for.
The plot is as follows: Set in a version of our world where cartoon characters and humans exist side by side, this slice of cinema, as regaled to us through voiceover dialogue by one of the titular duo, gets underway as we start with following the two as they have their first meeting in elementary school in 1982 before making their way to L.A. where they would soon find success on a little television show known as (get this) “Rescue Rangers” near the end of the decade. Unfortunately, it isn’t long before we see the duo’s unshakeable friendship, and the show itself, coming to a screeching halt as the result of an argument between the two about how Dale always feels like he is nothing but second best and would like to branch off on his own. From there we then jump ahead about 3 decades and see Dale has hit the con circuit in an attempt to jump start his career again and also made the choice to have the cartoon version of plastic surgery which has converted him from his 2D appearance to a 3D one that eerily resembles the recent look for Alvin and the Chipmunks. Dale meanwhile has not only stayed his typical 2D self, but is now making his way in the world as an insurance agent. Yet despite being worlds apart from each other, we see that our duo are forced to come back in each other’s lives when an old friend and former costar asks for their assistance. It seems that a criminal element known as The Valley Gang, led by a cartoon calling himself Sweet Pete, is snatching up toons left and right, altering them, and then shipping them off to work on something called “bootleg movies” (gasp!). Yet whilst initially our duo want nothing to do with any of this, we see things quickly get serious when not only is their friend taken by the gang, but a human cop and avid fangirl by the name of Ellie asks our dynamic duo for assistance since she thinks the time they spent on their show might actually be of use to investigating this dastardly crime. Suffice it to say that despite the differences that are still very much apparent between them, we see that our dynamic duo must learn how to work as a team again should they not only wish to save their pal, but also put a stop to the Valley Gang and their nefarious machinations for toons everywhere….
Now right off the bat, I should definitely point out that Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is one slice of cinema that is most assuredly if not a reboot then at the very least a successor in some ways to the aforementioned Who Framed Roger Rabbit since, not only do we get a quick appearance from the titular rabbit near the start of the film, but the lore set up by this slice of cinema does, like Roger, place the titular duo and their former cast mates in a version of our world where we exist side by side with cartoon characters. Having said that dear readers, this slice of cinema does go very meta in a lot of ways right down to poking fun at reboots and the like whilst also making the creative choice to operate to the positives found in the time-honored formula and as a result works beautifully. Along with that however, we see that Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers also makes the choice to operate as a novel take on that narrative as we see that, rather than being framed for murder, being a noteworthy enough toon in this updated universe is grounds for potentially being abducted with what is awaiting you possibly, dependent on perspective, being far worse than Dip could ever have been. As a result, we get a take on this iconic duo that is not just ironic, but also finds a way to get surprisingly grim and serious when the situation calls for it whilst also managing to find time to hurtle at the audience some fairly wild cameos, winks and nods, and not to mention the stray bit of comedy that always comes extremely close to going over the proverbial PG-13 line, but is able to reign itself in at the last minute. Surprisingly, all of these components all manage to work to the immense benefit of the narrative whilst also never seeming like it is misplaced in any way.
Now I’m not going to lie to you dear reader: the sheer insanity that this slice of cinema is able to operate with proved to be a wonderful surprise for me. Indeed transitioning this Disney Afternoon cartoon into a meta version of reality most assuredly takes away a lot of the limits that a 30-minute animated kid’s cartoon might contain. Indeed this slice of cinema may hone in on what kind of comedy it is planning to utilize fairly early on, but even after setting up its boundaries still permits adult moviegoers to get laughs from filling in the blanks themselves. At the same time, we see that insanity is not a word that just describes this slice of cinema’s mood since even the amount of winks and nods let alone bit appearances that are given to the movie goer does help keep this slice of cinema moving along at a fairly steady pace. Along with that, I should also let you know now that you shouldn’t be surprised if you come close to wearing out the pause button on your computer or remote since there are a lot of things in this slice of cinema’s world that will make you do a double take and pause so you can make sure that what you think you saw was in fact what you saw. Suffice it to say that it’s a chaos that manages to be a wonderful surprise especially when you take into account what a lot of people might think a slice of cinema would contain. As a result, we see that Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers works wonderfully for both younger movie goers even if they don’t know who a lot of the characters in this might be whilst also permitting their parents and other older movie goers to get a chance to see some of their favorite characters and get some laughs from a Disney movie they didn’t know they’d ever get. Now even though, as mentioned previously, this slice of cinema does push the envelope when it comes to how family approachable its comedy is, there is no denying that this slice of cinema is quite hilarious. Indeed to paraphrase a certain 80s movie character, this slice of cinema moves pretty fast and if you don’t stop to appreciate your surroundings you are bound to miss out on things. Indeed in that respect here is a slice of cinema that takes great delight in operating in a style and manner that resembles something more out of Looney Tunes cartoon in how it manages to get in as many bits of comedy as possible before the next twist in the narrative. Perhaps the best thing about this slice of cinema however is that although it is respectful of what came before it, it still is willing to take a chance or two with its iconic legacy for the sake of making the narrative in this more entertaining. Suffice it to say that it is a gamble that does manage to work to the overall benefit of the film immensely well.
It also doesn’t hurt by any stretch that this slice of cinema manages to possess a wonderful collection of vocal and live action performances that are truly the definition of magical and then some. Indeed as the titular duo Andy Samberg and John Mulaney are perfectly cast and manage to not only provide voice performances that are so on-point with their respective characters, but the back and forth that they have with each other will make you smile from beginning to end. I also really enjoyed the work done in this by Eric Bana as a wonderful new take on original series’ character Monterey Jack, Will Arnett as this film’s main antagonist who easily could have been played by Bob Hoskins of all people back in the day, Seth Rogen as a mo-cap Norseman straight out of the 2007 Beowulf by the name of Bob, and especially the always delightful J.K. Simmons as a low-budget Gumby style police detective by the name of Captain Putty. I also really appreciated how this slice of cinema made the wonderful creative choice to have both Tress MacNeille and Corey Burton come back as Gadget and Zipper from the original series respectively though the real hoot is when Zipper actually talks and the rich baritone voice that you hear is Dennis “Are you in good hands?” Haysbert of all people. With that being said however, the genuine treasure in terms of characters in this film has to be just the simply enormous collection of animated characters from virtually every studio that make appearances throughout this slice of cinema’s 97-minute (including credits) runtime. Heck this is the undoubtedly the kind of movie that literally puts Where’s Waldo to shame and practically begs for repeat viewings in order to find all the characters scattered throughout. Yet perhaps the best thing that this slice of cinema does when it comes to these characters is rather than just putting them in the film as a soulless way to cash in on certain properties a’la a movie that called itself a Space Jam sequel from last year, this film manages to insert them into the film in a way that feels more organic and natural both to the overall world within the movie and also the narrative being told respectively.
All in all I’m not gonna lie: Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is by no means the very first slice of cinema to make the creative choice to permit live action human actors and environments and cartoon characters and environments to be on the same screen together in a meta extravaganza. With that being said though, this slice of cinema is also a heck of a lot of fun to say nothing of one of the most brilliant utilizations of characters from across the pop culture spectrum both old and new in a long time to say nothing of the wonderfully whimsical manner in how this slice of cinema takes aim at the entertainment industry. That and when you factor in a pair of wonderful lead vocal performances from Andy Samberg and John Mulaney who show they were the perfect choices to bring this iconic duo back to life, a delightful collection of support performances and cameos, and a delightfully zany insanity running throughout the whole film what you get is a true gem to say nothing of one the whole family will enjoy time and time again. On a scale of 1-5 I give Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers “2022” a solid 4 out of 5.
