Rescue Rangers from Chip and Dale (2022)

This amusing reboot doubles as a children's film and satirises Hollywood.

Was there really any hope that this would be any good? Over the years, there have been numerous live-action/animation hybrids; nevertheless, very few of them have been enjoyable to watch.

Yogi Bear, Woody Woodpecker, and Tom & Jerry: the Movie are a few of the worst, but there are many that we might have included.

My heart fell like a lead balloon when I heard that Chip and Dale were getting their own movie.

Although the characters certainly have entertainment value—the original Rescue Rangers animated series from the 1980s was passably entertaining—it seemed like simply another attempt by a money-hungry movie studio to capitalise on people's nostalgia.

Fortunately, it turns out to be far better than anticipated because it's not the dull resurrection movie that it may have been. 

Instead, it's a clever and hilarious reboot that makes fun of the practise of reviving old cartoon characters (there are multiple jabs at the terrible Alvin & the Chipmunks movies), and it includes a huge number of appearances from previous films and animated series.

If you've been following the movie online, you already know that "Ugly Sonic" makes an appearance, but there are also a tonne of other well-known characters, including He-Man, ET, Roger Rabbit, Scrooge McDuck, Baloo, and many, many more.

The most of them aren't really crucial to the story, but since Alvin & the Chipmunks: Rescue Rangers is both a satire and a family film, their presence makes sense when you understand the barbs that director Akiva Schaffer is making at Hollywood.

Lover of Disney

Seeing your favourite TV and movie characters brought back to life will definitely bring you great joy if you were a youngster of the 1980s or 1990s and/or a lover of Disney.

You may find some of their treatment shocking—Peter Pan is now an adult, unwashed, and a bit of a washout—but the film's brilliance lies in its distorted portrayals of its characters.

You must be prepared for this before tuning in because the film is less of a nostalgia-fest and more of a light-hearted jab at Hollywood. You're going to be let down if you were hoping for anything more in the vein of the classic animated cartoons.

The movie treats all of its characters with some degree of affection, so this is not meant to imply that it is dismissive of them; rather, just as you have changed and matured since first seeing them on screen, so have they.

Although the plot is relatively thin, it is nevertheless quite interesting. The movie quickly cuts to the future, where Chip and Dale are the stars of their own TV programme, Chip' n Dale: Rescue Rangers, after first showing us how they first met.

The story then jumps ahead in time to a moment when the cartoon mice are feuding with one another following the collapse of their showbiz careers.

However, when their former co-star Monterey Jack is abducted, the small pair band together once more to find him and save him from a fate that every animated character must undoubtedly dread (there will be no spoilers here).

Even if they don't get all the jokes, the youngsters will enjoy the straightforward storyline.

Adults, meanwhile, will enjoy the humorous digs at shoddy animation methods, pirated copies of vintage films, and many Hollywood customs and clichés.

It's to the writer's credit that they have dared to dissect Hollywood and bite the hands that feed them; practically nothing is off limits.

Comedic skills

To be completely honest, the movie isn't hilarious. You might anticipate more humour given the comedic skills of director Schaffer and star Andy Samberg (who voices Dale).

That's not to say the movie doesn't make you smile; you'll probably have a smile on your face the entire time. However, the jokes, as funny as they are, aren't enough to elicit anything louder than a chuckle.

Due to the odd instances of slapstick, children will probably laugh more than their parents will, but since many of the jokes will go over their heads, even children may sit in pleased silence for a long.

The film is nevertheless enjoyable to see even though it doesn't reach the hilarious heights of Schaffer's work on Saturday Night Live or the antics of his comedy ensemble The Lonely Island (which also included Samberg).

Action film 

It's a rare animated/live-action film that appeals to both kids and adults and has superb visuals.

You will be pleasantly delighted by this one if you were disappointed in what Hollywood did with Woody Woodpecker and Tom & Jerry after their unsuccessful revivals. The film that Chip and Dale and the fans who grew up with them deserve has been released.

While it doesn't always make people laugh, this self-aware comedy is cleverer than most and is still a lot better than the aforementioned attempts that patronised both their characters and their audiences.