High marks in the animation and voice talent, but it is too long

Rating: 9/10 (25 March 2011)

This animated feature pretty much has everything that I hoped for when I walked in to the theater. The character design, modeling, lighting, texturing, and animating is flawless— almost photo realistic while retaining a cartoonish look. Much of the humor is aimed towards parodies of old westerns such as: the Spaghetti Westerns, High Noon, and Once Upon A Time In the West (to name a few). Even music from old Westerns is used, as well as some famous classical music pieces. Sight gags, one-liners, and even the sense of the absurd in some of the animation sequences are all incorporated into the film.
The voice talent is simply brilliant. Johnny Depp's voice fits perfectly for the chameleon Rango. Ila Fisher follows through well with a southern accent as the lizard Beans. Abigail Breslin's adorable, young voice provides cuteness as Priscilla the Possum. Ned Beatty and Ray Winstone are great villains, but neither is as up to par as Bill Nighy for Rattlesnake Jake. He did a phenomenal job as Davy Jones in the Pirates films; here he is just awesome. I wish his character had more screen time.
Unfortunately though, Rango runs into a big problem, the film moves too slowly. Usually, most animated features are no more than 90 minutes long. When they go past that point, they get boring. In rare cases, features such as "The Incredibles" move by quickly, regardless of the length. Rango does not have this talent. Part of this problem is due to the plot. The story is simple and nothing really unique, but it goes on way too long. Fifteen minutes needed to be cut.
Another thing worth noting is that "Rango" is not a kid's movie. Though there are some sight gags, the fact it is animated, the humor is aimed more towards people who like the western genre. I grew up watching the old western pictures, so this movie is a real treat. People who are not familiar with the western films may not like this feature. In addition, some of the humor is adult oriented (some of it a bit much for a PG movie).
Rango is a very good movie in my book, but it is not a major triumph like past works of DreamWorks and Pixar.
My rating: 3.5/4