Just like the movie that preceded this one, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers might look like one thing, but it’s certainly different than your expectations. The film was questioned when it was announced. “This is just Hollywood recycling crap and adding famous voice actors to it”. It’s safe to say that Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is much more than that. The film borrows heavily from Roger Rabbit (even including the famous cartoon character). There are plenty of cameos and appearances from other properties, even ones that Disney doesn’t own. In some cases, it’s almost insanity that you can see some of them on screen. In one particular case, the borrowed IP is a huge part of the story.

It goes to show that when you get something that’s rip-roaringly hilarious and has a great script, people want to be part of it. Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers was directed by Akiva Schaffer and written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. Like Roger Rabbit before it, this is a live-action/animation/CG hybrid. Chip N’ Dale were the talk of the town with their show Rescue Rangers on Disney television. That all changes when Dale decides to take on a new show. Rescue Rangers was quickly canceled and the group went their separate ways. Thirty years later, the chipmunks are thrust back into the spotlight when Monterey Jack of the Rescue Rangers is kidnapped by cartoon bootleggers.

John Mulaney stars as Chip, Andy Samberg as Dale, and it features Kiki Layne, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Flula Borg, Dennis Haysbert, Keegan-Michael Key, Tress MacNeille, Tim Robinson, Seth Rogen, and J.K. Simmons. The plot follows a normal mystery and even pokes fun at how simple it can be at times. The voice cast and live-action actors all know exactly what the movie is going for and it shows in their performances.

Kiki Layne Is A Real Highlight Among Comedy Heavy-Hitters

Kiki Layne as “Ellie” in Disney’s live-action CHIP ‘N DALE: RESCUE RANGERS, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle, SMPSP. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Ellie (Layne) doesn’t get many of the best lines in the film, but she’s central to the overall plot. Acting in a hybrid animation/live-action movie like this takes a pretty great performance. To also react appropriately and fight with a claymation Gumby-knockoff is a whole different type of performance. Layne also has to straddle the line between two characters because of the plot. She’s a fanatical follower of the Rescue Rangers but there’s something bubbling underneath. She does a fine job adding little nuances to the performance that really make you question what her motives are.

Samberg and Mulaney work really well off each other. They’ve both really perfected these types of roles with Mulaney playing the straight-man reacting to the antics of Samberg’s Dale. Of the outside characters, Rogen does the best job as the Gimli-Polar Express CG knockoff Bob The Warrior Viking. He gets the most to work with and even makes jokes about his own trademark laugh. For fans of the original series, while Tress MacNeille and Corey Burton don’t voice Chip and Dale, they do make appearances as other characters in the film. Jim Cummings also makes an appearance as some of his most famous animated characters.

Overall, the vocal performances and the few live-action performers make Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers a special film for today’s audience. The script gives them some really good material to work with, but all the performers knock it out with this one.

Quick And Easy

(L-R): Dale (voiced by Andy Samberg) and Chip (voiced by John Mulaney) 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.

Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is really over before it hits its stride. The comedy and fun here are off the charts. Although it definitely feels like a streaming movie, as opposed to something bigger. It was a great time, hilarious and fun, but felt like there could have been a bit more to it. When Chip and Dale are going around doing cartoonish things, the movie really works. The plot is pretty inventive at points with the beats on cartoon bootlegging and follows in the footsteps of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The commentary on entertainment as a whole was not lost.

If you’re in the mood for an afternoon of laughs and cartoon cameos, you can’t go wrong with Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers.

Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers releases on Disney+ on May 20th, 2022.

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