Movie Information
Release Date: March 4, 2011
Director: Gore Verbinski
Writer: John Logan, Gore Verbinski, James Ward Byrkit
Cast: Johnny Depp,
Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty Alred Molina, Bill Nighy
Stephen Root, Harry Dean Stanton, Timothy Olyphant, Ray Winstone, Ian
Abercrombie, Gil Birmingham, James Ward Byrkit, Claudia Black, Blake
Clark, John Cothran, Partika Darbo, George DelHoyo, Maile Flanagan,
Charles Fleischer, and Beth Grant
MPAA Rating: PG- Parental Guidance
Runtime: 107 Minutes
Studio: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Blind Wink Productions, GK Films
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Language: English
Country: USA
Budget: 135,000,000
One thing I can always say about Johnny Depp is his bag of wits and personality never runs out. Even if the story he’s attached to isn’t that great, the characters he portrays are always fun to witness. I’m not saying in the least bit that the story of ‘Rango’ isn’t great because it is. It’s just not complete, but still has a long list of characters that aren’t pretty on the eyes but will have you laughing for the duration. Watch them all shake in fear of a disaster strikes and look up for a new hero. This new hero is name ‘Rango’ who is the bravest coward you’ll ever meet. His clumsiness defines him while also being his life saver.
‘Rango’ is an average chameleon that get’s exactly what he’s been acting for. He has no experience in the wilderness, let alone a sun scorching desert but that’s soon to come. Contained in a glass pet box with a puddle of water, some sand, and a few broken action figures, Rango is constantly acting out performances filled with comedy to entertain himself. Then suddenly a light bulb goes off in his head. He realizes that for an Oscar worthy performance an actor must literally be thrown into a compelling situation where danger meets reality. Let’s just say he spoke a little too soon. After a tragic accident, Rango’s world changes drastically for the worst and he must adapt like the chameleon he is.
Rango ventures off to the small town of ‘DIRT’ and that’s all it consist of is literally dirt. There is barely a drop of water to be found except in the bank, where there are only a few days of water left guarded by the banker and owned by the Mayor. With a new town under Rango’s feet he stands out like a sore thumb. Already tipping over to the bad side of an ugly rodent named Beans (Isla Fisher) she has some patience and tries to teach him the ropes. Still confused as ever, Rango continues attempting to blend in, but with every effort makes it worst. Then stumbling into a bar, his charmed is welcomed after telling a few white lies. He has the intention of doing well and says to himself, “No one knows me here, so I can be whoever I want.” It’s his golden opportunity to shine like some heroic avenger, and he takes full advantage of it. So moving along, by accident he impresses everyone with the task he just completed, then is expected to maintain this high standard he’s set. Unfortunately for him he will have to continue to back it up without the credentials necessary. He’s then appointed the position of sheriff to find out who stole the water supply from the bank and it’s some mystery. What’s hilarious is he has no idea what he’s doing but always seems to bring praise to his feet from the town’s people. Yet all good things must come to an end.
Accompanying Rango is a town full of reptiles, amphibians, creatures, and rodents. Besides a little rat girl and Rango they’re all hideous and not easy on the eyes. Beans, is a creature from an origin I do not know, who at random freezes her body and has no recollection of the past 15 seconds for defense. A hawk that wants to swoop down and kill everyone, especially rattle snake Jake who is the most dangerous in the bunch with a machine gun on his rattler. A few bat flying villains that live in a cave system, and some miners who steal everything in sight. Like I said all these characters are extremely ugly to look at but their rodents so it’s passable. Other than their dreadful appearance there’s a good amount of jokes for both children and adults. It was a great balance to appeal to all audiences. While Rango is very entertaining with it’s humor, great animation, and pleasant visuals, when danger lurks around the corner it doesn’t seem too dangerous. Every possible problem that displayed you’re not on a cringe afraid of the outcome. You feel that everything will be ok which results in a redundant climax. On top of that the third act was just as dry as the town ‘DIRT’ itself. I didn’t even look forward to it and I’m glad because that saves potential disappointment.
Going years back on the classic tale of ‘TOY STORY’ Pixar created a high standard of animation entertainment that only a few titles we able to uphold. Dreamworks in my opinion is slightly second, and can still hold a candle to such standards. ‘Rango’ can be considered in the same league but is nowhere close to being at the top. If I had to take away from ‘Rango’ it’s characters were funny to watch but I didn’t care for one besides Rango. If they happened to die I would probably laugh instead of gasping I disbelief because of some drastic disaster. ‘Rango’ is still entertaining but needs some polishing to in top ranks. Johnny Depp as the voice of ‘Rango’ was fantastic and just another illustration of how great of an actor is.