One of the Best Animated Films I've Seen

Rating: 9/10 (24 August 2011)

RANGO is one of the most entertaining films I've seen so far in 2011. Following in the footsteps of Dreamwork's SHREK franchise, RANGO is an animated film that's fun enough for kids but has enough elements that appeal to adult audiences that we can enjoy it too. At it's core, it's a simple fish-out-of-water premise where a lot of the humor is derived from a stranger's interactions in a new land he doesn't quite understand. RANGO goes a little deeper than your average kid flick, creating an interesting and somewhat complex character. RANGO is about an ordinary household pet chameleon en route down a desert highway with his owners when a freak occurrence drops him alone in the middle of nowhere. He stumbles his way a rundown little town named Dirt, where the inhabitants are in the middle of an ongoing drought. Seeing his chance to inhabit a new role, the chameleon adopts the name Rango and passes himself as one of the toughest sharpshooters to ever live. His big talk lands him in big trouble when he is brought on as Dirt's sheriff and it falls on him to discover where all the water's gone.
Let me start by saying that I've noticed a lot of people trying to say this isn't for kids...that a few scattered, very mild profanities and some peril are too much for young minds. Well, my four-year-old daughter loves it and she enjoys the film without mimicking the little bit of questionable content there is. I took her to see it in the theater and she's made me watch it at least 20 times since we got it on DVD. The complex themes of identity and destiny pass right over her, but she loves it when the hawk gets its head stuck in a can. I personally love it for it's attempt at being more than your average kid's toon. It's got some great tripped out sequences as Rango wanders the desert coming to grips with his dilemma, including one where he finds the "Spirit of the West"...a little nod towards the man who defined the gunslinger genre: Clint Eastwood driving a golf cart loaded with Oscars and voiced by star of HBO's DEADWOOD, Timothy Olyphant. There's also a funny nod in the beginning to Johnny Depp's friend and drugged out gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. I was surprised that I was the only adult in the theater that caught it and got a good laugh from the homage to FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS.
The animation in this film is amazing. It's probably the best CG I've seen in a film. The textures, the cinematography, the character movement...it's beautiful. The inhabitants of Dirt are caricatures of characters we've seen in countless Westerns before, and the character design is hilarious. The visuals are fantastic and ILM has proved they could give other animation studios a run for their money if they can continue putting out quality films like this. The film boasts an excellent voice cast with Johnny Depp (Rango), Isla Fisher, Alfred Molina, Stephen Root, Ray Winstone, and more. Ned Beatty is Dirt's corrupt tortoise mayor, playing the villain again after last year's stint as Lotso in TOY STORY 3. Bill Nighy arrives in the final act of the film to steal every scene he's "in" as Rattlesnake Jake. I thought the man was awesome as Davy Jones in the PIRATES films, and he brings his evil to the coolest character in RANGO. My only problem with the film was that it felt a little too long and some of the drawn out parts could've been trimmed a bit to streamline the film. If you're looking for a film to watch with kids that won't bore you to tears or having you rolling your eyes, this is it.