The best kids movies aren't always for kids

Rating: 9/10 (19 September 2011)

What sort of expectations can you possibly set for a CGI kids movie about a lizard in the old West? For me, it was relatively none. I didn't think anything of Rango after seeing the first trailers and immediately discarded it as another kiddie film that I would have no reason to see. But then the movie came out and the buzz began and the surprisingly positive reviews started coming out. It wasn't long before I decided I actually did need to see this movie. It was a while till I got around to actually doing the deed, but boy was it worth it.
Rango is, and I mean this in an utterly sincere fashion, an incredibly brilliant film. Johnny Depp stars as the voice of the title character, Rango, a pet chameleon who falls out of the back of his owner's truck while on the highway, only to find himself lost in the vastness of the Nevada desert. He eventually finds his way to the town of Dirt, an old and decrepit town filled with old and decrepit rodents who are in desperate need of water before their town dries up. Rango shows up alone in the town, known by nobody, so he decides to create a new persona for himself, dawning an Eastwood-esque man with no name facade that gets him into a lot more trouble than he bargained for. The film is sharp, hysterical, action-packed, and more trippy than you can believe.
Rango possesses an immaculate sense of bizarre uniqueness that carries the film and makes it a truly wild experience. It delivers a painfully hilarious script backed by very impressive voice acting and Gore Verbinski's direction of the film gives it a cartoony and incredibly entertaining flare. This film is of a certain quality that is so rare within the kid film genre, especially the part of the genre that isn't made by Pixar. Rango takes CGI storytelling to a whole new level and transcends the ideas of what your typical talking animal film should look like and feel like. Pixar is known for its low brow subtleties that allow adults to enjoy their films as much as kids. Rango, on the other hand, takes it a step further and prides itself on its clever innuendos and shockingly inappropriate quips. To a certain demographic (i.e. uptight parents) this is appalling and disgusting. But to me, I thought it was genius to market a film as a kids flick and then blow the rest of us away when we realize that this is a film that arguably has more humor aimed towards adults than kids. While some may bash Rango for this, I give it incredulous amounts of kudos.
Not only is Rango's humor great and it makes the film a blast, the action sequences in the film are brilliantly fun and the overall visual quality of the flick is superb. Gore Verbinski directs the film with incredible finesse, showing off a range of styles within one two hour film. The film can be wacky and fun, as well as sophisticated and sincere with direction, artistic design, and cinematography that captures the various moods and atmospheres Rango weaves through. And of course let's not forget the amazing CGI. The detail of every last hair on the back of a rodent, every last scale on a lizard, and every last grain of sand in the vast open desert is mind boggling. The film is pieced together so well artistically, possessing not a single flaw in its visual integrity.
And perhaps what I love most about the look of this film is that it breaks all stereotypes of the idealized talking CGI animals that we are familiar with. There is nothing cute or fluffy about these critters. They are absolutely the ugliest bunch of greasy, grimy, disgusting rodents ever animated onto the big screen. The characters in this film resemble the things you find under the sink and then promptly kill and/or scream in terror. And that is really what Rango is all about in essence. It isn't about idealizing the happy-go-lucky world of talking animals. It highlights the more grotesque aspects of this fantasy land, while still managing to be hysterical. When it comes to animated films, you won't see enough like Rango, so see this movie so you don't miss out on one of the best "kids films" to come out in a long time.