Note: This film is only available to watch on Disney+
Michael's Movie Grade: B+
A really fun movie based off of the Disney Afternoon TV show.
This film is first and foremost a comedy and that is where it really worked. This is Disney at their silliest and most satirical and as someone who has always loved that side of Disney, that was a pure delight. This film takes a satirical look at the TV show and at Hollywood reboots. Yet unlike many similar revivals of cartoon series that tried to do the same thing, this works because there is no mean spiritedness and the appreciation for the source material is truly felt. You can make fun of something while still truly loving it and that is what happened here. It doesn't hurt that the jokes are very smart, clever and the satire works very well. I came into this movie not excepting to laugh anywhere near as much as I did. The film made me wished it was released in theaters because a comedy as funny as this should be seen with an audience. The jokes come fast and are plentiful, yet the majority of them land very well. Many of these jokes come directly from the characters, which is always a plus. Though Chip and Dale's voices sound extremely different (I'd be lying if I said it didn't take me time to get used to them), they are still the characters we Disney fans have grown to love and the "odd couple pairing" (to quote this movie) works extremely well here. Much of the rest of the humor comes from cameos from many cartoon stars (both Disney and not) and movie characters. While this could have seemed distracting, they are actually worked quite well into the story and most of them are quite funny. Fairly early on we meet a certain video game/movie character in one of the funniest cameos, I have seen in a very long time. Over the course of the picture, we get a huge selection of these cameos that range from the most popular proprieties to ones that are there for the amateur Disney and animation historians. Like respect was shown for Chip and Dale themselves, it is obvious that the filmmakers are passionate about the film and TV history they are parodying, even they do get their all too true satirical jabs at Hollywood and the modern movie industry. Probably the strongest satire comes from the villain of the piece (whose identity makes me amazed Disney allowed them to do this). This is where the film gets it harshest but hardest biting satire at a part of the movie industry that truly deserves it. His evil plan is so funny and delightfully satirical that it alone would make this movie worth watching.
As funny as this film is, I admit that the storyline is very familiar, and you know where it is going at any minute. The fact that the movie itself pokes fun at this makes it no less true. After the villain's reveal, I could simply guess everything else that would happen in this mystery. Meanwhile the character arcs that Chip and Dale go through all the same that so many characters in similar movies have and it could feel a bit like a step for step following of that formula. I will admit it worked better here than in some other films that did the same thing, simply because these characters are so likable. None of this means the story is bad though, it works pretty well actually, but it is still something we have seen many times before. Meanwhile many of the supporting characters we simply not very interesting and walking cliches. None of this takes away from how simply funny the movie is though.
Despite any faults though this is an excellent movie and something I will highly recommend to any fans of Disney or cartoons.
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