Rango
When Rango, a lost family pet, accidentally winds up in the gritty, gun-slinging town of Dirt, the less-than-courageous lizard suddenly finds he stands out. Welcomed as the last hope the town has been waiting for, new Sheriff Rango is forced to play his new role to the hilt.
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- Cast:
- Johnny Depp , Isla Fisher , Ned Beatty , Bill Nighy , Abigail Breslin , Alfred Molina , Stephen Root
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Reviews
You won't be disappointed!
Why so much hype?
Beautiful, moving film.
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Rango is an animated movie that isn't afraid to get ugly. The characters have a unique look and some of the animation is very realistic. The storyline isn't anything new, and it's definitely not for younger children, but it's a fun little movie with excellent voice work that is worth watching. . .once.
The film Rango directed by Gore Verbinski is based around a theatrical chameleon who gets abandoned from his lavish family into a town called Dirt. In an effort to show out for the citizens he proves his worth by displaying his skills with firearms and ends up impressing the town enough to become their sheriff. Little do they know his qualifications are completely made up and his identity is all an act. Throughout the film, Rango is exposed to a myriad of dangers that force him to change his sheriff duties from an act into becoming a true hero. This film uses the superb voice acting of Johnny Depp and Abigail Breslin along with many other popular actors to illustrate the underlying humor of the situation of a group of talking animals running a town. Which also brings up how dynamic and uncommon the plot is, the film shows another side to an otherwise uneventful story by giving the audience a peek into Rango's personal struggles with keeping up his lie, the film is also accompanied by an example of animation that is well above par.The Protagonist, Rango, is an inherently charming and funny character, he uses his expertise in theatre to coerce an entire town into believing he's a competent sheriff. This is made possible by the voice acting of Johnny Depp, an actor known for his humorous demeanor. Depp has been seen in films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where he is yet again the comic relief. Rango, when brought into town, is very quickly introduced to a young, naive mouse named Pricilla, voiced by Abigail Breslin. Breslin in most all of her films represents an innocent little girl, such as in Little Miss Sunshine or Zombieland. Making her a perfect fit for the tiny mouse with a "funny looking face"Many films nowadays have very predictable plots with little variation, Rango however, while having the common characteristics of the overplayed "newcomer saving the day." This film elaborates on that and makes the viewer fall in love with this strange little lizard, and makes you hope for his well-being even though the audience knows the whole time that his heroism is all a story. Also being that he is a lizard brings a completely new dynamic into the film, the animation. The animation is very impressive, the characters aren't creepy or disturbing like I commonly see in many animated films lately. The animation also impressed me by incorporating real world objects in an otherwise animated world, such as Rango's best friend, Mr. Timms, who is animated convincingly enough that he almost seems real.All in all, Rango is a very well rounded film. It incorporates good voice acting into a very fitting plot and is completed by superb animation. This film is one of nickelodeons best and makes me tear up every time I have to see Rango walk away from the town after they figure out his true identity. This film is very over looked in my opinion, and many people don't give it enough credit for how elaborate some of the animation is. Overall I can very confidently give this film 9 tumbleweeds out of 10.
Rango is a chameleon. Literally. He is wandering through the desert, having escaped the clutches of a hawk, when he stumbles into the town of Dirt. After massively exaggerating his skills as a gunfighter, challenging the town hoodlum to a duel and (accidentally) killing the town's greatest menace, a large hawk, he is made Sheriff of the town. It is then that he discovers that the town has a massive water shortage. After chasing down some outsiders who robbed the bank, it appears the reason for the shortage may be due to intentional interference, and may be close to home.Good fun. Started pretty badly - plot was over the place and it appeared you needed to be high to enjoy it. However, from a point, around about the saloon scene, the movie finds focus and kicks up several notches. Ends having a decent plot (though a tad derivative of Chinatown), some good humour, great CGI and good action sequences.Vocal casting is spot-on, with Johnny Depp to the fore as Rango. All-star supporting cast delivers in spades.
When we hear about a Gore Verbinski/Johnny Depp tandem, we all know what movie franchise comes to mind first. Pirates of the Caribbean is a huge defining point for both the director and the actor, since the former will hardly ever beat the overall success of it with any other movie, and for the latter his character of Captain Jack Sparrow was, is and probably will stay the most recognizable image he ever brought to life. It's hard to get away from your fame, and it's probably the case when it becomes your curse - just like the Black Pearl's crew was cursed for being too successful at plundering.At first glance, it's hard to imagine anything more opposite to Pirates of the Caribbean than Rango. And not only because it's an animation. Rango is a story of a pet chameleon who's deeply in the hell of a self-identification crisis, and Captain Jack Sparrow would be the last person in the world to question himself who he is. Yet there's a strong vibe of the whole PotC trilogy (to me it IS a trilogy) coming from Rango. The Curse of the Black Pearl was all adventures, Dead Man's Chest was all goofy and slapstick, and At World's End was a rather surreal journey to the other side. And Rango has it all.But in this attempt to transmit the already well-mastered recipe for success from one franchise to another Gore Verbinski chose the second installment of PotC as the base tone. Which is weird, because, apart from being a huge commercial hit, Dead Man's Chest was a rather flat and over-the-top action adventure which, as most second episodes of trilogies do, simply served as a link towards the climactic third act. And while Rango was showing some promise to become a parable of the social inequality, a satire about brainwashing, vice and exploitation, and finally a story of a person on his self-exploring journey, it's still mostly a situation comedy where a striving for local punchlines outweighs a global dramatic effect. Jump funny, say fancy words very fast and make weird noises - and you're good to go. Yee-haw!I guess it's actually enough for the audience that simply wants to be entertained. After all, Rango is beautifully animated, and it definitely delivers a feast for your senses. But for those who prefer to go deeper, Rango could be a much more fulfilling, albeit not so happy, tribute to Johnny Depp's own thespian journey. Rango is a chameleon, an ever-mimicking creature, who has to play a character he invented himself - because he has no idea who he actually is as a person. Just like Johnny Depp himself, who had enacted so many personas during his actor's career that to most people he's just Jack Sparrow or even "that guy from that movie". It may be a hymn to the whole tribe of actors, but Johnny Depp is probably the most prominent example of a person who's been in so many pairs of shoes throughout his whole life that it's getting difficult to remember which one is actually yours.The ending, when our hero rides into sunset to solidify himself as an icon to be remembered, is a sort of a silent resignation to this fate. After all, what's the point in trying to define and defend your personal individuality if everyone else will still have his own image of you that's only vaguely related to the reality. Apparently, this choice goes beyond a single film, because in the next work of the aforementioned tandem, The Lone Ranger, Johnny Depp's character is all but a legend alive, with hardly anything truly human in it. Depp may be a most perfect hanger for film personas, but they do start to feel somewhat empty inside. Just like this film itself. But if you're not looking for more than what meets the eye, you'll be thoroughly entertained, because, even though the make-up may be flaking, the smile still stays on. Show must go on, and it will go on. Amen.