What, more? OK: So... Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is the latest result of Disney deciding to dust off an old but well remembered IP. That's had various results over the years -for every Pete's Dragon, we got a bunch of those awful live action remakes- but this is firmly on the 'It looks like everyone involved actually wanted to make this one' category. And the people involved in making it are the fine folks at Lonely Island, so it was always going to be worth a watch.
In an inspired touch, it's not a direct continuation of the short lived very late '80s Chip and Dale Series. It takes place in an extremely Who Framed Roger Rabbit?-influenced setting where cartoon and real people mix - and cartoons are made by, well, cartoons acting in front of painted backgrounds. In fact, Roger Rabbit has a big cameo here, so this movie can and should be understood to take place within the Roger Rabbit cinematic universe.
After a short summary of Chip and Dale meeting and rising to fame the film jumps forward to the modern day, a bunch of years after their series was cancelled. Chip has survived on the margins of showbiz and Dale gave up on it and became an insurance salesman. Salesmunk? Anyhow, a mystery involving an old friend reunites them and off they go on an investigation of animation's seedy underworld.
 |
| There's a jaunt into Uncanny Valley |
It's very, very similar to Roger Rabbit, right down to smuggling in adult situations and jokes a la Jessica Rabbit's pattycakes subplot. There's a killer roster of voice talent on hand, all very game, and while this doesn't have Rabbit's seemingly bottomless pockets for securing the rights to other studio's properties (The Looney Tunes crowd remain conspicuously absent), it does have some pretty funny inclusions like MC Skat Kat or Ugly Sonic, and some of the cameos make for pretty good jokes just in and of themselves. The limited budget also unfortunately makes it so that the animation here isn't even close to Rob Zemeckis's masterpiece, but it does well enough, and it's got the energy and enthusiasm to make up for it.
It's hard to say how much tinkering director Akiva Schaffer and the other guys at Lonely Island did with the script, but it feels very much of a piece with their sensibilities- even the character arcs for Chip and Dale feel very similar to the ones in Popstar. The story isn't going to blow any minds, but it's fun, self-aware, and it goes to some inspiredly (google informs me that isn't a word; fuck google) weird places.
It does feel at times like a bunch of great ideas or jokes strung together with lesser connective tissue, but hey, it got quite a few solid laughs out of me. It's cute even when it's spinning its wheels, and I suspect anyone with a fondness for the original series will get a lot more out of it than I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment