Rango

There is a small pile of unreleased movie reviews in the Blogger post list. I guess I'll write them up eventually even if they're old news. For now though, I will take a short break from arm stories to write a little review about the last movie I saw: Rango.

***Spoilers, blah blah blah***




Animations, be it CGI or hand-drawn, generally contain at least a few cute characters, songs, colourful backgrounds, and kid-friendly themes and dialogue. This is not one of those animations. Helmed by Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, Rango tells the whimsical tale of a pet chameleon who gets tangled in the socio-economic intrigues of a small frontier town (weird I know).

Lars (Johnny Depp) has always longed for adventure. In the opening shots, we see the well-dressed lizard engaging in a make-believe theatrical production with the help of the props in his terrarium. He dreams of being the hero of his own tale and wishes some great event would occur to throw him into conflict from which he would emerge victorious. He gets his wish when his terarrium falls off the car carrying it and he winds up in the middle of the very hot Mojave desert. He meets a sagely armadillo who points him towards the aptly named town of Dirt. Along the way, he meets a female lizard named Beans (Isla Fisher) who brings him to town. Lars decides to go into full character, inventing a legendary persona for himself as a ruthless killer by the name of Rango. One thing leads to another and he becomes sheriff which leads to a rather wild storyline with a cast of characters including a devious turtle with a cult-leader vibe, a mean rattlesnake, a gun-happy family of moles, and assorted reptiles, birds, and rodents.

The character design is decidedly on the not-cute side. The cutest thing in the movie is Rango's wind-up fish toy which doesn't get all that much screen time. The backgrounds are dull and dusty like a dwindling frontier town should be I guess. All this coupled with the dry dialogue and theme makes for a not kid-friendly flick. Adults with a taste for the slightly bizzarre however, might be more appreciative. The visuals while not colourful, are nicely done with great stylistic appeal and cinematography. The basic story is nothing original, being a rehashing of stereotypical Western themes, but is executed well with a wry sense of humour. The voice work can't be faulted and Depp is always fun to hear/see.

This animation may not be for everyone, but if you sometimes like your cartoons a little on the dark and zany side, you'll probably enjoy this as I did.