Post by PhantomKnight on Jun 26, 2022 21:42:58 GMT -5
In no reality does a Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie have any right being good...and yet here we are, with director Akiva Schaffer defying the odds and delivering just that. Even as someone who watched reruns of the original cartoon show as a kid, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers never struck me as a property worth rebooting, but the first thing I have to give this movie props for is recognizing that fact itself and choosing to go a much more meta route with the property. The result is something very much in the vein of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where Chip and Dale are washed-up cartoon actors working the convention circuits in present-day, long after the cancellation of the Rescue Rangers TV show, and becoming embroiled in a mystery themselves after one of their former co-stars is abducted. And also like Roger Rabbit, the movie takes place in a world where humans and cartoon characters co-exist.
I've already mentioned that this movie is full-on meta, and that's really where this movie's strengths lie. Between it being directed by Schaffer and Andy Samberg voicing Dale, the Lonely Island comedic sensibilities are pretty much entwined into the DNA of this movie, which gives it a leg up over a lot of the other shameless IP cash-ins these days. It also basically mocks itself for existing, but the key here is that the jokes it has in its arsenal are largely funny -- quite funny. In fact, I honestly don't remember the last mainstream studio comedy that had me laughing this much. It combines the metaness and the nostalgia into a nice little whirlwhind of charm and humor, and just rolls with it. Also helping is the fact that Andy Samberg and John Mulaney have very good chemistry together as Chip and Dale, and legitimately make the characters charming. The movie has a nice buddy comedy feel in that regard. But they're just one piece in the overall puzzle. Again, it's really that Lonely Island energy which pervades this movie that makes it so successful. You can tell that the people involved here are putting actual effort into this and are striving to recreate that Roger Rabbit magic, and for the most part, they do. It's definitely not on the same level as that classic, but I think it's a lot more successful than other movies that would try to do the same thing because you can tell that the passion is here: the humor lands and the various uses of IPs are inspired. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers won't reinvent the wheel or anything, but as far as movies that had no reason for existing go: it certainly does a good job of making a case for itself.
***/****
