'Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers' Review: Meta Disney Reboot Sets a Fun Open Roast to Animation
PG: Mild action and rude/suggestive humor
Runtime: 1 Hr and 36 Minutes
Production Companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Mandeville Films
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Writers: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand
Cast: John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, J.K. Simmons, KiKi Layne, Tress MacNeille
Release Date: May 20, 2022
Disney+
Chip and Dale are living amongst cartoons and humans in modern-day Los Angeles, but their lives are quite different now. It has been decades since their successful television series was canceled, and Chip ( John Mulaney) has succumbed to a life of suburban domesticity as an insurance salesman. Dale (Andy Sandberg), meanwhile, has had CGI surgery and works the nostalgia convention circuit, desperate to relive his glory days. When a former castmate Monterey Jack (Eric Bana) mysteriously disappears, Chip and Dale must repair their broken friendship and take on their Rescue Rangers detective personas once again to save their friend’s life.
Disney and The Lonely Island is an unlikely pairing that nobody in their right mind could ever dream of. Their forces are too powerful; only the Lord knew what kind of messed-up magic they’d create if they ever crossed paths. Alas, that day has come with the mouse house giving Akiva the keys to update Disney’s beloved classic chipmunk characters: Chip and Dale. One might assume this would be a live-action feature adaptation of the Disney Afternoon classic, but when you got The Lonely Island behind the scenes and the writing duo of Most Likely to Murder and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, you end up with one of the funniest and most inventive buddy comedies since Shane Black’s The Nice Guys.
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises
If Who Framed Roger Rabbit served as a love letter to classic cartoons of the Fleischer, Disney, and Avery era, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a love letter and open roast to the state of animation since, let's say, the ‘70s. The aforementioned classic dealt with 2D animation mixed with live-action in the real world, primarily due to it being set in 1947. Because the medium of animation has come so far since then, Rescue Rangers incorporates every animation technique known to man, including 2D, 3D, CGI, stop-motion, puppetry, claymation, and motion capture for the sake of creating a vibrant world.
The Hollywood backdrop gives way to numerous visual gags and satirical cuts to the state of animation, the trends it had on the industry (some that the distributor is responsible for), and using it as a part of the culture of the featured toon’s lifestyles. Having a washed-up Dale getting the animation equivalent to plastic surgery—going CGI—is just a glimpse at how inventive and downright hilarious the functionality of this world is. Writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand took a deep dive into what was trendy in the animation industry in the past 30 years and cleverly threw some of those prominent aspects into the plot. I’m not even gonna tell you how the genre of mockbusters plays an integral part in the mystery, but believe me when I say, after a major exposition dump, I gave a standing ovation in my bedroom because of how smart and creative it was. They take advantage of the Hollywood scene, which allows the film to roast the likes of Disney characters, their properties, other studios’ properties, and styles of animation, like a rotisserie chicken.
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises.
I’m sorry for having to, once again, make a third BoJack Horseman comparison this year in my reviews, but this feature’s take on the iconic characters has a major satirical approach, similar to BoJack. Back in the ‘90s, Chip and Dale were on a famous TV show. Now, the two are washed-up actors living mundane lives, with Chip being an insurance agent and Dale doing the convention circuit, not having spoken to each other since their falling out/their series getting canceled in the ‘90s. When Monterey Jack disappears, the former actors have to put their differences aside and play detective to get him back.
Chip and Dale retain their distinct personalities from the series where Chip is the mild-mannered straight man and Dale is the happy-go-lucky goofball. John Mulaney and Andy Samberg—who are known to fit their designated roles like a glove—elevate the chemistry and the comedy between the leads. Their friendship is the driving force of the comedy and the core of the story. While everything surrounding them is chaotic (in a good way), the story never loses sight of that buddy core.
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises
Disney sent the wrong Multiverse of Madness to theaters because the cameos in this movie are mind-blowing. You’ve got some Disney characters, but the caveat of non-Disney IPs that show up is incredible. Some are a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it window dressing and some are in your face for a joke, but a ton of the animated characters will make you scream louder than anything those lame Illuminati scenes did. There were instances where I paused my screener and said, “HOLD UP! Them… appearing in a Disney film?! I thought that wasn’t humanly possible!” There were a few that made me scream:
Hand-drawn 2D animation is an excruciatingly long process, especially with a feature film. So, a vast majority of the 2D assets here aren't quite 2D. Characters like Chip and the antagonist Sweet Pete (Will Arnett) are given that 3D cel-shaded look and it’s often visually rough around the edges. The movement is at a lower frame rate for most of the characters who appear in that style, and while it’s consistent, it makes some of the action sequences lack energy. Due to every style of animation being thrown on-screen, it makes the cel-shaded 3D elements less jarring than they should be.
An actor’s ultimate challenge comes when they must perform alongside animated characters. Sadly, one of the best up-and-coming actors of our time, Kiki Layne, have failed that challenge. She plays Ellie, a cop who helps the former chipmunk stars on the case and Layne is in an upbeat, corny golly-gee, fangirl mode for most of her time on screen. It’s very reminiscent of Piper Perabo in Rocky and Bullwinkle but that movie had a light cynical tone. This is slightly darker and mature so whenever she’s on-screen she doesn’t necessarily match the wavelength the rest of the movie is on. That being said, she does deliver one of the funniest tragic backstories the film has to offer, so it’s not all bad.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is the closest thing we’ll probably ever get to a spiritual successor to the magic of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which means it’s one of the best movies of this year. It’s an endlessly creative and hilarious buddy comedy caper that has no right to be as well-executed as it is. Utilizing every facet of animation to pay tribute and take shots at the state of the medium for the past 30 years, this self-referential satire had every right to hit theaters. I wish I was joking when I say THIS is the best buddy detective comedy since The Nice Guys.
