REVIEW: “Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers” movie is a fun mess of nostalgia and contemporary humor with a lot of cameos thrown in
May 20, 2022, 1:49 PM
Chip (voiced by John Mulaney) and Dale (voiced by Andy Samberg) in Disney's live-action CHIP N' DALE: RESCUE RANGERS, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(voiced by Andy Samberg)
SALT LAKE CITY — Prepare for a trip back to your memories of watching 1990’s cartoons after school. Much like the new Downton Abbey movie, which also releases today, Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is a movie sequel that revisits characters from a once-popular TV show.
The cartoon series on which the movie is based, “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” originally aired on Disney Channel in 1989-90, then was sold into syndication where it aired on Fox Network stations during afternoons from 1990-93. Now, the duo is back in a hybrid live-action/CG animated action-comedy on Disney Plus.
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, THE MOVIE, stars the voices of John Mulaney from “Saturday Night Live” as Chip, and Andy Samberg of “Brooklyn 99” as Dale, plus a bunch of other famous voices like Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Dennis Haysbert, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen and J.K. Simmons.
THE STORY
Chip and Dale are living amongst cartoons and humans in modern-day Los Angeles, but their lives have changed quite a bit in the decades since their successful television series “Rescue Rangers” was cancelled.
Chip has quit acting to become an insurance salesman. Dale meanwhile, has had CGI surgery and works the nostalgia fan convention circuit, desperate to relive his glory days.
But a former cast mate mysteriously disappears and rumors swirl of toons being altered and forced to appear in knock-off movies to avoid copyright infringement. So Chip and Dale must repair their broken friendship, take on their Rescue Rangers detective personas once again, and team up with human detective Ellie (KiKi Layne) to hopefully save their friend’s life.
THINGS I LIKED
I laughed at many funny moments in this one, and there are so many Easter Eggs. We get flashbacks to how Chip and Dale meet, why their voices aren’t squeaky here, what’s happened off-screen to their Rescue Rangers co-stars, as well as a wide variety of other pop culture cartoon characters. Honestly, I’m not sure how they got some of the characters and logos that appear in this movie, to appear in this movie!
Now, there’s no meeting or moment on screen in Rescue Rangers between any of the guest characters that compares to the memorable “dueling pianos” scene with Donald and Daffy Duck in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, yet there are some very funny and surprising cameos.
WARNINGS
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is rated PG
FINAL THOUGHTS
The movie really has Who Framed Roger Rabbit? vibes, up to and including a cameo from ol’ Roger himself. Fortunately (for me), I loved Roger Rabbit and wasn’t bothered by all the meta jokes in the script from Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. Perhaps more importantly, my kids really liked it–and they’re the designated audience.
This movie is likely not going to be remembered as a classic, but it is fun enough to give it a watch.
Andy’s final rating: TWO out of FOUR stars
WHERE TO WATCH
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is not in theaters, but is a streaming exclusive movie on Disney Plus, where you can also watch all episodes of the original series, if you desire.
Hopefully you & your family found this review helpful! Andy Farnsworth does a weekly “What To Watch” segment for KSL 5 TV in Salt Lake City and also hosts the Fan Effect podcast for KSL NewsRadio. Check out his other in-depth reviews of movies and streaming TV series on KSLTV.com.
