A pet chameleon becomes a wild west hero!

Rating: 9/10 (12 November 2014)

An absolute Grade A wacky, witty and weird animated feature directed by Gore Verbinski. And it doesn't hurt to have Johnny Depp voicing the lead character. A nameless pet chameleon(Depp) is jettisoned from a family's car on vacation and lands in the middle of a desert. He narrowly avoids being buzzard food when he is approached by another four legged creature walking upright, Beans(Isla Fischer). She eventually guides him to a desert town called Dirt. The thirsty stranger takes on the name Rango and goes from meek and mild to cocky and grandiose accepting the job of sheriff that carries the task of solving the mystery of the town's missing water supply.
The animation is fabulous with not a stale moment to be found. Every cliché of western movies is touched and a lot of the humor may actually go above younger children's heads, but there are laughs a plenty to enjoy for everyone. Not exactly a clever story line, but still a hoot! The obligatory potty humor seems to be missing; but the music is cool and then there is the puzzle of figuring out what kind of creature each character is. The animation is fantastic and the voice work is top shelf. Depp's voice is spot on and gives Rango personality and depth.
A few of the other stars lending voice to the characters: Ned Beatty, Harry Dean Stanton, Abigail Breslin, Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Alfred Molina, Ray Winstone, James Ward Byrkit, Claudia Black and Timothy Olyphant.