Ty Watches "Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers"

I used to watch "Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers" as a kid. It is one of the few shows, outside "The Simpsons", that I actually remember watching when I was young. I did not watch many cartoons as a kid. There were other shows, like "American Gladiators", "Sportscenter" and "Good Times" that appealed to me. I just liked real people as opposed to cartoons I guess. But "Rescue Rangers" was different. It was goofy and silly and fun. It was like a lighter "Pinky and the Brain", a show I got to later in life. And I loved "Pinky and the Brain".

When I heard that they were doing a reboot, and making it a movie, I was skeptical. I am usually not the biggest fan of remakes or reboots. Why rehash an old idea that they got right the first time? I just do not like it. Some stuff has worked, but it is few and far between. And fans will argue with other fans if the show or movie or miniseries or whatever is any good. Those people need to calm the hell down. Stop fighting about useless nonsense on the internet. That is for kids. Anyway, I was hesitant. But then I found out that Akiva Schaffer was directing it. I adore Schaffer. I have liked pretty much everything he has done. His group, The Lonely Island, does things that speak to me. I also found out, through Schaffer's internet presence, that Andy Samberg was going to be voicing a main character. This was when I was fully on board. Samberg is one of my all time favorite actors. The dude is funny. He gets it. He knows how to construct, write and deliver jokes. When he teams up with Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, the other Lonely Island member, they make magic. As I said, the three of them know how to get it done. Then I saw that John Mulaney was attached. I like his comedy, so I was happy about it. Then Tress MacNeille signed on. Then Eric Bana. Will Arnett was next. Then I started to see names like Dennis Haysbert, Flula Borg, Keegan Michael Key, Tim Robinson, Seth Rogen, JK Simmons and Rachel Bloom attached to voice characters. This was an even bigger selling point for me. I also saw that Kiki Layne, from "Coming 2 America", was cast as the human lead in this movie. She was great in that, so I figured she would be just fine here.

This movie really worked for me. I loved that they went the "Roger Rabbit" route with it. This movie mixes a bunch of different animation styles with real life situations. And it is from the jump. We meet Chip and Dale in elementary school where they go with all kinds of animated characters and humans. The movie continues this trend when they show them getting their show. This was a great walk down memory lane. And then when we find them away from the show in modern times, they keep up the "Roger Rabbit" aesthetic. The movie is even in the crime/noir/comedy genre. It mixes all three, but it is not as adult as "Roger Rabbit". This is a kids movie. This is made for the family to watch. My son watched it the day after my wife and I, and he thought it was fun. But being that it is a kids movie at heart, I told my wife while watching that I feel like this movie was made for us. This was made for people who are going to be 40, or already turned 40. This is like going back in time. It brings back all your favorite characters from the original, while taking some old classics and making them look not so great. I loved that about this movie. It was nostalgia for me, and I was all in.

I highly recommend “Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers” for everyone, but mainly for people my age that used to watch the cartoon. It is a great walk down memory lane. It was a ton of fun.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Watches "The Suicide Squad"

My wife and I watched "The Suicide Squad" on Sunday. I wanted to sit with my thoughts on this movie for a few days before I decided to write a review.

First things first, I enjoyed this movie. I am more of a Marvel fan. I have made that very apparent on this site and on the podcast. Wolverine is my favorite superhero, I like the shows they make, I like most of the movies they make and Marvel was my gateway into the whole superhero universe. I just like them more than DC. DC does have some good stuff. The original "Superman" movies are good. I like the old school "Batman" show. I love Christopher Nolan's versions of "Batman". I also like Tim Burton's "Batman". I enjoyed "Shazam" and the first "Wonder Woman" movie was fantastic. But, for me, DC is usually too dark in tone and color. I find it to be their crutch. And that was my main problem with the first "Suicide Squad" movie. It took itself way too seriously, especially for the source material, and that movie fell flat. Again, for me.

Then I saw that James Gunn was directing this new "Suicide Squad", and I enjoy his movies. I love his take on "Guardians of the Galaxy". They are perfect. I also like his early stuff. The movie "Super", with Rainn Wilson, is awesome. I liked "Sliver" a lot. "LolliLove" is quirky and fun and an ode to my hometown. And his early Troma stuff was my entry way to that very bizarre and sometimes terrifying genre of movies. Gunn knows what he is doing. I also appreciate that the only returning characters from the first movie were Harley Quinn, Rick Flag and Amanda Waller. The rest of the people, for the most part, are better actors than the people who portrayed some of the DC characters in the first "Suicide Squad".

That was another thing I liked about this movie. The new "Suicide Squad" let it be known that there are many Suicide Squads. There is not just the one from the first movie. This movie had two squads in it, and alluded to more. As for the actual movie, like I said up top, I liked it. I did not like it as much as I thought, but I still liked it. The stuff I wasn't so crazy about is little nit picking things. I thought the movie was a bit too long. I did not want to hear all of the main characters' backstories. I could have done away with some of the slower stuff. But again, this is me nitpicking little, unimportant details.

For the most part though this movie works. I love that we are introduced to an entirely different squad at the top of the movie. I'm going to be as spoiler free as possible, but do not expect to see too much Nathan Fillion, Pete Davidson, Michael Rooker or Flula Borg. They are not long for this movie. Only after the opening ten minutes do we get to the main squad we will be with for the duration of this movie. When we do meet them, I really enjoyed that montage scene. And as much as I like some of the actors in the original, this cast is much better. Idris Elba is an upgrade over Will Smith, and I like Will Smith. Margot Robbie seems to be having much more fun in this movie than the first one. She nails it. John Cena was my favorite part of this whole movie. He can act. He was hilarious and terrible. Steve Agee not only plays a worker for Waller in the movie, but he also does the motion capture for King Shark, and he is great. Daniela Melchior is so good, and I had never heard of her until this movie. She is the heart of this thing. David Dastmalchian, as Polka Dot Man, was so good. And Peter Capaldi, as Thinker, was perfectly cast. I also liked that they took the most ridiculous baddie I could think of, Starro, and somehow made it work in this movie. I also like that they shot a ton of the fight scenes, including the big one, in daylight. You could see everything. I also appreciate when directors and writers get to show how violent and gory these powers can be, be it a good guy or a bad guy. This movie takes full advantage of the R rating, and it works.

My thoughts? I like this movie. I recommend this movie. I think fans of both comic book worlds will enjoy it. I wish it were shorter, but for the most part "The Suicide Squad" is a solid movie and I think people should check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.