Rango Review by Brian!

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2011)

On Saturday I was able to see a screening of the new movie Rango. This movie is directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates Trilogy, The Weather Man) and stars Johnny Depp along side an all- star cast.
The plot is as follows
"Rango is a pet chameleon who lives in a terrarium. He has long thought himself a hero, but then finds himself removed from his contemporary American southwest surroundings and ending up in an Old West town called Dirt, which is populated by various desert critters garbed like characters out of a Western. As he's always thought himself a hero, Rango establishes himself as the lawman, strolling the streets as a sheriff-like character. Unknown to him, the "good guy" role does not do very well in Dirt, with a cemetery filled with good- guy tombstones. But that does not stop Rango from trying, constantly seeking to fit in with his surroundings. In "an existential crisis", Rango comes to question everything about himself."
This being an animated movie I have to start by talking about the animation. I was absolutely floored by how good this movie looked. It may be the best animated/CG movies I have seen to date. They even put most of Pixar's movies to shame. After seeing it I did a little bit of research about who did the animation; it turns out it was done by the geniuses at ILM (Industrial Light & Magic). Normally ILM is just a Visual Effects company, this being their first animated feature. Let me say, they knocked it out of the park! The landscape, the character design, and every little detail, down to the amazing fur of the creatures. At some points I could not even believe that I was watching and animated movie.
But the story is still the most important part of a movie, unless of course if you are Michael Bay (Rimshot). The story is about Rango who comes into an old west town where they are almost out of water. Rango impresses the town and becomes the Sheriff. He then promises to get the people more water and save their town. While this sounds like a basic plot or easy to follow movie, I have to say regardless of this being an animated movie, or how it is marketed, this is in no way a kid's movie to me. Right off the bat they are throwing around very adult oriented humor.
Depp as a whole does a fun job and sounds like he is having fun with the role. If I had to narrow it down I would say Depp is playing Raoul Duke and Jack Sparrow rolled into one, maybe even a little "Sands" from Once Upon a Time in Mexico. All that means Depp is quite "zany" throughout this movie, which is the best kind of Depp. Honestly I love the character of Jack Sparrow and Depp so I really don't get tired of this. Depp always seems like he is having fun and its why I really don't mind (and am even looking forward to) a fourth Pirates. (Quiet all you naysayers!)
The rest of the cast is good as well, which includes Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Ray Winston, & a fantastically fun bit from Timothy Olyphany. Bill Nighy stands out as the mostly memorable role as a villainous snake. His role is short, but Nighy has a great voice for a villain
A quick small item that I wanted to point out, as a huge movie nerd, I greatly appreciated the appreciable amount of meta jokes. Another one of Depp's characters makes a little cameo. Then quite possibly the greatest western hero of all time makes a great cameo and speech. (Any guesses?)
In the end I enjoyed the movie and had a fun time with it. It's an old tale that we have seen done before, but the animation, actors, using animals instead of humans give this a good modern day twist. This is actually quite the good date night movie. Girls will find it cute and the guys will have enough fun with all the inside humor and adult jokes. Not that it's negative but I would still not call this a kid's movie. I think kids could see it and have fun, but some of the movies charm and special quirks would most likely be lost on them. I would still just see this movie for the amazing animation - ILM always knocks it out of the park!
In the end a good 7 out of 10 / B
Thank you as always and enjoy the movies.