Movie Review: Rango

Posted On: March 9, 2011
Posted By: odeisel
Comments: 1

By Malice Intended

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a pet chameleon with a very overactive imagination. One day, while wandering aimlessly through the Nevada desert, he stumbles upon an old west town populated by various desert animals. He happens upon the town just as a crisis is afoot. The town’s main currency is water, and the reserves are running dangerously low. Tortoise John (Ned Beatty) presides over the town as mayor, and appoints Rango as Sheriff after he unwillingly saves the town from an imminent threat. Rango wins the hearts of the townspeople by telling tall tales about his past exploits. He develops a rapport with lizard Beans (Isla Fisher), who struggles to retain ownership over her father’s ranch. As these developments unfold, Rango slowly morphs into the hero that always wanted to be.

Rango was directed by Gore Verbinski, the man behind the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (soon to be a quadrilogy). The script was written by John Logan and based on an orginal story by him, Verbinski and James Byrkit. Though Rango isn’t a summertime “event” movie like The Pirates films, it nevertheless functions as a large scale adventure in a mythical land. The fact that it is computer generated allows a certain visual freedom.

Rango is essentially an epic Western, and the visuals stay true to the template long ago established for the genre. The desert is vast and endless. The town of Dirt, small as it is, feels like the center of the universe. Rango doesn’t seem to be trying to emulate any particular movie, but the influences of John Ford, Howard Hawks and Sergio Leone are readily apparent.

The animation was rendered by legendary FX house Industrial Light & Magic, and may very well set a new bar for computer animated films. Every surface is richly textured and immaculately detailed. The craftsmanship is even more impressive when seen in tight close-ups. There are many different species of desert animals represented in the town of Dirt, each are given a distinct look whether they are covered in feathers, fur, or scales. Ditto for every plant and grain of sand; all rendered with realism and an eye for mythic whimsy.

The storyline is recognizable to anyone who has ever seen a Western before. Verbinski and his collaborators aren’t interested in making yet another deconstructionist Western, though the encroachment of civilization is addressed on more than one occasion. Rango is the last of a dying breed, but the film does not lament the passing of its kind. It celebrates the myths of the Old West instead of mourning them as a bygone era.

Johnny Depp’s characterization is another variation on his post Jack Sparrow screen persona. It’s not so much a vocal performance as it is a stream of consciousness riff. The venerable Ned Beatty is suitably slimy as the duplicitous Mayor Tortoise John. Rattlesnake Jake is perhaps the most menacing villain to grace the screen so far this year. Much of that is due to the character design and animation, but Bill Nighy’s vocals give the character a primal edge.

Rango’s most crippling flaw lies in the characterization of Rango himself. During the first two acts he is something of an empty vessel; wandering haplessly from one moment to the next. Adventure doesn’t call to him, so much as it falls in his lap. The character talks incessantly; making Johnny Depp’s shtick tiresome at points. This is especially evident during the middle stretch of the film. Curiously, the character becomes tolerable and even sympathetic by the closing act. The filmmakers do a wonderful job of wrapping this story up even though they are working with very familiar material.

Rango is a Western masquerading as a computer animated kids’ film. Unlike many of the more recent entries in the genre, it is neither brooding nor dark. It celebrates every cliché and story beat like an old friend returning home. The adults who grew up with the genre will get more out of it then the kids who make up its target audience. That’s not to say the little ones will be bored, just that Rango harkens back to cinematic world that was far before their time. Judging by the results, I’d say that Gore Verbinski has found his true cinematic calling.

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