There's a new animator in town...

Rating: 8/10 (3 September 2011)

...and his name is Industrial Light & Magic. He's packin' some heavy iron in the form of excellent direction by Gore "Pirates..." Verbinski, a unique photo-realistic cartoony-ness, with a solid (though not extraordinary) script to boot, courtesy of John "Gladiator" Logan (with story assistance from Verbinski and James Ward "Rango--the video game" Byrkit), a fine sagebrush score by tune-slinger, Hans "Inception" Zimmer, and sterling voice work from the likes of Johnny "The name's Rango" Depp, Isla "I'm married to Bruno!" Fisher, Ned "You...will...atone!" Beatty, Alfred "Raiders of the Lost Ark" Molina, and Bill "Gore likes me" Nighy, among numerous others. At times reminiscent of some of the older Looney Tunes features, "Rango" sports a fair complement of in-jokes and homages to a variety of sources, including "High Noon," "Apocalypse Now," "Chinatown," and Leone/Eastwood's iconic "Man With No Name." The film's (relative) failure at the box office--it missed the mark on earning back production costs domestically--was likely a consequence of a somewhat darker, mordant edge to its humor and storyline that made it less appealing to children, coupled with an inescapable current of video-gamishness (cf. Byrkit's likely contributions) that dissipated adult interest. Nonetheless, it will undoubtedly do well on video, and hopefully well enough to encourage ILM into further animated ventures. I found it more than entertaining and a likely candidate for repeat viewings. YMMV, but it absolutely worth at least one watch, even for the price of a rental.