TL;DR – While the ideas behind this film are solid, I found myself just not connecting to it at all, even though I am probably its target audience.    

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ streaming service that viewed this film

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers Review –

Today we have an odd duck to crack. From all accounts, Chip’ n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a film designed specifically for me. It is hitting nostalgia that I grew up with, with actors I enjoy, with a narrative device that usually hits the mark for me. However, at no point during the film’s runtime did I engage with it, and I am not 100% sure why.

So to set the scene, since they were kids, Chip (John Mulaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) have been best friends who, of course, took the same bus to Hollywood to become stars. It was a hard slog, but finally, they landed their first big break with Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. However, as Season Three came along and Dale decided to branch out and star in Double-O-Dale and the two part ways. Thirty years later, Monterey Jack (Eric Bana) calls the two as he is in trouble with the criminal Valley Gang and is afraid of becoming a bootleg, which is what everyone fears when Monty goes missing, and Chip and Dale must team up again after so long apart.

Before we dive into what didn’t work for me, I do want to champion the things that did. To begin with, there were many different art styles and classic characters in this film, and the animators brought every single one of them to life. It would have been great to see more of the Real-World and Animated-World integration, but it is a bunch of fun when they do [like in KiKi Layne’s final fight scene]. There are also moments when the film makes the most of its multi-verse setting, and Seth Rogen probably had the one truly belly laugh in the movie. Add to this a mystery/detective almost noir investigation and some Eric Bana, and well, it elevates the story to something sort of interesting.

All of these factors make the film watchable, but it never captured me even though it was watchable. The first thing that took me away from the movie was the choice of the lead actors. I like both John Mulaney and Andy Samberg as actors, but it felt like they distracted from the film rather than improved it. Then there were those jokes about animators that happen with both Ugly Sonic (Tim Robinson) and Cats. Given what the animated had to go through in those films, it felt mean, which was off-putting. Some moments left a bad taste in my mouth throughout the film, and I am not sure why they are there.  

Finally, it is clear that this film wanted to harken back to that joy that was Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Indeed Rodger (Charles Fleischer) himself appears in the movie. But what made that film work was a charm of integrating the different animated characters [and some intense contract negotiations]. Still, here it just feels sort of slapped together from a narrative perspective. They were going for that nostalgia that came from those Disney Afternoon TV Shows from the 1990s, and maybe that should have been the focus outside of just Baloo (Steven Curtis Chapman). Honestly, as I was watching this, it just felt like I had seen this all done better before in Ducktales.

In the end, do we recommend Chip’ n Dale: Rescue Rangers? And look, I am sorry, but I think the answer is no. I so wanted this film to be fantastic, but when watching it, all I felt was that while it was watchable, there could have been better things to spend my time on. If you liked Chip’ n Dale: Rescue Rangers, I would recommend to you, Detective Pikachu.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Chip’ n Dale: Rescue Rangers?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Directed by – Akiva Schaffer
Written by – Dan Gregor & Doug Mand
Based on – Chip ‘n’ Dale by Bill Justice & Chip’ n Dale: Rescue Rangers by Tad Stones & Alan Zaslove
Music by – Brian Tyler
Cinematography by – Larry Fong
Edited by – Brian Olds
Production/Distribution Companies – Walt Disney Pictures, Mandeville Films & Disney+
Starring – John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, J. K. Simmons, KiKi Layne, Tim Robinson, Flula Borg, Dennis Haysbert, Tress MacNeille, Corey Burton & Da’Vone McDonald with Chris Parnell, Jeff Bennett, Liz Cackowski, Rachel Bloom, Steven Curtis Chapman, Charles Fleischer, David Tennant, Alan Oppenheimer, Jorma Taccone, Jim Cummings, Akiva Schaffer, Paula Abdul & Paul Rudd
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: 0; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: na; United States: PG