Every now and then comes a film that breaks the barriers between kid films and non-kid films, and caters to an audience that has no age limit. The recently released live-action and animated comedy Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is one such flick that caters to everyone who knows who the two characters are and what they are capable of.

Set in the present-day fictionalised world where cartoon characters and humans live together, the movie starts from the day Chip and Dale, two chipmunks, first met at school and gathers momentum after the break-up. The once stars of their own TV show, Chip ‘N Dale, now live different lives, but ‘Monty’ brings them together.

The movie takes a jab at the industry as well, which forgets the characters when they are past their prime. Chip and Dale were childhood best friends, but greed and ambition drove them apart. Chip works as an insurance agent, while Dale desperately wants to make a comeback. For the first time in three decades, Chip and Dale return to crime-solving with the other members of their team, two of who got married to each other.

The world may be different, but the ways used by the Rescue Rangers remind one of the 80s when life was not as complicated as today. Filled with references from the past, the 98-minute movie has cameos from many famous characters, including Peter-Pan, E.T., Batman, He-Man, Winnie the Pooh, and Baloo, making it a treat for everyone to watch.

With excellent animation backing the story, added with banter between the titular pair, it is a one-of-its-kind flick where live-action and animation come together. Voice actors John Mulaney and Andy Samberg, who have respectively voiced ‘Spider-Ham’ in Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse and Johnny Loughran in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, joined hands together to be the voices of Chip and Dale.

Chip is the more intelligent and heroic of the two, while Dale is known for his fun-loving antics. Other actors who lend their voices to characters brought back to life after decades are Eric Bana, Will Arnett, JK Simmons, and Seth Rogen. The movie is like watching a full-length episode of Chip ‘N Dale in the 80s, but alas, it’s not the 80s.

The original series was about mysteries, action, comedy and friendship where, as they said, Chip ‘n’ Dale never failed. Their fate hasn’t changed even today after so many years!

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 18th, 2022