Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers offers a joyful refresher for a reboot-weary world

polygon.com:

In a world full of reboots and crossovers, the Disney Plus live-action movie Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a refreshing antidote. Yes, it’s something of a reboot and something a crossover. But against all odds, it’s also a joyful celebration of what makes these modes of entertainment so popular.

Lonely Island director Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and How I Met Your Mother writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand turn what could be a tired concept into one that brings back the excitement of reboots and spinoffs and crossovers and sequels. The plot is relatively simple, but that just gives the meta shenanigans and animation-world in-jokes more room to shine.

[Ed. note: This review contains some setup spoilers forChip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers.]

Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers kicks off when animated chipmunks Chip (voiced by John Mulaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) reunite years after their animated series Rescue Rangers was canceled. Chip left show business behind and now works as an insurance agent, while Dale keeps touring the convention circuit, still hoping for his big break. Their friendship collapsed when Dale tried to go solo on a project, which cost them the show, and they haven’t talked in years. They’re called in by their old castmate Monterey Jack (Eric Bana), who has gotten himself into a bit of a bind. When he suddenly disappears, it’s up to Chip and Dale to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Much like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which it openly references), Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers takes place in a world where animated characters live alongside humans. Unlike in Roger Rabbit, there isn’t really any tension between cartoons and real people. It’s just a fact of life that the animated characters are