Masterfully animated feature that is sure to delight both young and old.

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2011)

Rango is one of the best animated features I have ever seen. Johnny Depp is stellar as the naive and eccentric chameleon that is lost in the desert and trying to find himself. The animation is second to none, at times it seems completely real, an amazing feat considering the characters are all anthropomorphic animals. The characters, the voice acting, the story; everything falls together perfectly to create a wonderful film.
Rango (Johnny Depp) is starving artist chameleon, always performing for an audience of one (himself) in his safe, yet boring, fish tank. He has no real idea who he is or what his purpose in life should be. His life is turned upside down when an accident leaves him stranded in the middle of the desert where he meets a cast of crazy spaghetti western characters in the frontier town of Dirt. Dirt is a rough and tumble town that is facing a drought and a series of quirky misadventures leads to Rango becoming the new sheriff. Of course there are outlaws to be captured, corrupt officials to be stopped, and a woman to win, all staples of the romantic American western.
The creative energies that were obviously poured into the film really pay off, Rango is funny, polished, and vastly entertaining. There is enough silliness to keep children interested, yet there is always a serious overtone that keeps adults engaged and the plot moving along. Don't let the fact that Nickelodeon was involved, this isn't your average kid's movie, it's much, much more.