Rango

Rango (2011) – Movie Review

Director: Gore Verbinksi

Screenwriter: John Logan, Gore Verbinksi, James Ward Byrkit

Producer/s: John B. Carls, Graham King, Jacqueline M. Lopez, 

Studios: Paramount, Nickelodeon

Production Companies: Blind Wink

Top Billed Cast: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Timothy Olyphant, Ray Winstone

LOGLINE: A quirky lizard actor, starved for attention finds the courage he needs by taking on a character, Rango, when he enters a fringe town in the wild west of modern day animal society. His character is soon promoted to Sheriff and he becomes embroiled in a world of treachery and danger.

VIEWING CIRCUMSTANCES: (Today) At home, on a sick day (a real one, not a 'sicky'), in bed, with my wife, over several few hours with naps and a rugby match in between.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Clever, if not a little too self aware. I'm not sure if the screenwriting 101 stuff washed over with 'normal' audiences but I found it a little trite. Other than that though, pretty good.

STORY: Not the most original piece ever, but luckily the characters are interesting enough to carry the day. It borrows heavily from Chinatown and a bunch of Westerns and other films.

PRODUCTION: A great animation, the sunset scenes are gorgeous - very realistic, as are the shots of glass which is used as a symbol throughout to represent Rango's relationship to the world.

PERFORMANCE: Johnny Depp is a very talented actor and really gets to have a bit of a play/stretch his wings here, which I'm sure was as much fun for him as it is for us.

OVERALL: Pretty good, one of my favourite animations for a while (the other being Toy Story 3)

Oh, and I'm feeling better now, thanks for asking.

MEETSLINE: Chinatown meets Gore Verbinski's The Mexican and the entire Spaghetti Western Genre.

FAVOURITE QUOTE: 

RECOMMENDED ACCOMPANIMENT: A big jug of water!

RATING:

3 1/2 out of 5 reels of film.

Movie Review by A.B. McBlogsmith the Backwards Cap Film Reviewer

(C) Review Flix 2011