Director: Gore Verbinski
Writer: John Logan
Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher
Release Date: March 4, 2011
Length: 1 hour 47 minutes
Nowadays, animated family films set some high expectations for audiences. With exceptional films like Tangled, Toy Story 3, and Despicable Me spoiling children, it’s hard to appreciate any other films made for children at all. Gore Verbinski, the director of Pirates of The Caribbean comes up with an odd witty but most importantly unique animation western film for kids with Johnny Depp voicing the main character, Rango. Rango is a lonely self-involved pet chameleon that’s fallen out of his owner’s car on the highway. After traveling hours through the Nevada desert, Rango meets the bookish argumentative iguana Beans, who takes him to the animal-filled town of Beans. When Rango arrives there, he accidentally kills a dangerous hawk by knocking over an empty water tower, crushing the predator. From this, the mayor (Ned Beatty) appoints Rango sheriff of Dirt and he quickly becomes a hero within the town. Rango begins to make up stories about where he’s come from and his dangerous experiences wowing everyone, except for Beans. However when someone steals the remaining water of the town from the bank, pressure is put on the supposedly fearless Rango to go and get it back. He is joined by some other civilians of Dirt to help him out, including Beans, who Rango has begun to have feelings for. Rango sets out to retrieve the town’s water and keep his status as Dirt’s hero but can he keep lying for long? The most enjoyable part of this film is its originality and peculiarity in John Logan’s script. Creating a children’s film that also translates as an old fashioned Western boggles my mind, as I can’t imagine how one could think that up. There is such clever dialogue written between the characters while at the same time so strange. No situations the characters find themselves in or parts of the plot were random, but many of the characters and their conversations were hilariously so. Somehow Logan makes Rango hatable for how arrogant and selfish he is, but also makes us root for him because of the sweet citizens of Dirt and Rango’s endearing romance with Beans. For the first time in an animated movie, Johnny Depp proves to be just as incredible a character actor with only his voice than in the rest of his films. His voice truly –no pun intended- animates the script and brings the whole film to life. Isla Fisher is also exceedingly funny and interesting to listen to as Beans, with her always-panicked defensive and cute southern accent. Other voice actors like Alfred Molina, Ray Winstone and Bill Nighy add humor to their already hilarious characters and script. The actual animation of the film is exquisite and sometimes overshadows some flaws in the movie. The gritty setting of a dry old western town was done perfectly and truly made it seem so real. The only problem with Rango is one that unfortunately cannot be overlooked. Although child friendly in language, Rango has some animation and characters that might really scare some younger kids, including the villainous Rattlesnake Jake, with a machine gun at the end of his tail. Aside from that, Rango is just a wonderful family film. When put beside incredible recent family films mentioned before, yes, Rango loses it’s value but in such an odd wave of outstanding kids films this year, it’s hard not to. Rango may not be an extraordinary film but Gore Verbinski and John Logan create one of the most unique and remarkably weird family films of all time and is well worth your time.
Writer: John Logan
Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher
Release Date: March 4, 2011
Length: 1 hour 47 minutes
Nowadays, animated family films set some high expectations for audiences. With exceptional films like Tangled, Toy Story 3, and Despicable Me spoiling children, it’s hard to appreciate any other films made for children at all. Gore Verbinski, the director of Pirates of The Caribbean comes up with an odd witty but most importantly unique animation western film for kids with Johnny Depp voicing the main character, Rango. Rango is a lonely self-involved pet chameleon that’s fallen out of his owner’s car on the highway. After traveling hours through the Nevada desert, Rango meets the bookish argumentative iguana Beans, who takes him to the animal-filled town of Beans. When Rango arrives there, he accidentally kills a dangerous hawk by knocking over an empty water tower, crushing the predator. From this, the mayor (Ned Beatty) appoints Rango sheriff of Dirt and he quickly becomes a hero within the town. Rango begins to make up stories about where he’s come from and his dangerous experiences wowing everyone, except for Beans. However when someone steals the remaining water of the town from the bank, pressure is put on the supposedly fearless Rango to go and get it back. He is joined by some other civilians of Dirt to help him out, including Beans, who Rango has begun to have feelings for. Rango sets out to retrieve the town’s water and keep his status as Dirt’s hero but can he keep lying for long? The most enjoyable part of this film is its originality and peculiarity in John Logan’s script. Creating a children’s film that also translates as an old fashioned Western boggles my mind, as I can’t imagine how one could think that up. There is such clever dialogue written between the characters while at the same time so strange. No situations the characters find themselves in or parts of the plot were random, but many of the characters and their conversations were hilariously so. Somehow Logan makes Rango hatable for how arrogant and selfish he is, but also makes us root for him because of the sweet citizens of Dirt and Rango’s endearing romance with Beans. For the first time in an animated movie, Johnny Depp proves to be just as incredible a character actor with only his voice than in the rest of his films. His voice truly –no pun intended- animates the script and brings the whole film to life. Isla Fisher is also exceedingly funny and interesting to listen to as Beans, with her always-panicked defensive and cute southern accent. Other voice actors like Alfred Molina, Ray Winstone and Bill Nighy add humor to their already hilarious characters and script. The actual animation of the film is exquisite and sometimes overshadows some flaws in the movie. The gritty setting of a dry old western town was done perfectly and truly made it seem so real. The only problem with Rango is one that unfortunately cannot be overlooked. Although child friendly in language, Rango has some animation and characters that might really scare some younger kids, including the villainous Rattlesnake Jake, with a machine gun at the end of his tail. Aside from that, Rango is just a wonderful family film. When put beside incredible recent family films mentioned before, yes, Rango loses it’s value but in such an odd wave of outstanding kids films this year, it’s hard not to. Rango may not be an extraordinary film but Gore Verbinski and John Logan create one of the most unique and remarkably weird family films of all time and is well worth your time.
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