Fanaticalaboutfilms Review: Rango

Rating: 8/10 (15 March 2011)

Rango [2011] PG - 107mins - Animation/Adventure/Comedy - 4th March 2011
With western films seemingly on the comeback in recent years, it was only a matter of time before an animated version of the wild wild west made it to our screens and it has done so in the guise of Rango.
Rango (Johnny Depp) is a somewhat unique chameleon who finds himself, as with many animated films these days, catapulted from within his safe surroundings accompanied by his ever trusty sidekick Mr. Timms (a plastic goldfish) into the barren and unforgiving wild where his adventure truly begins. Depp as usual brings his own unique style to the character of Rango which doesn't disappoint.
Rango meets up with many other quirky animals which really gives the movie character and I have to say that the visuals in this are stunning, some of the best out there and it really is starting to get to that point that you forget it is an animation with the scenery and hot dry climate being portrayed looking top notch. Add the gritty looking critters who really look like they have been worn down by the desert and it's a hats off to the animators who have outdone their Pixar rivals (it's a Nickelodeon production for those wondering) on this front.
The movies humour is great and combines lots of slapstick, good one liners and excellent facial expressions that really got me going but this I felt is traded off, only slightly, as the movie goes on so that the plot can continue to develop. As usual with these films there is some subtle and some not so subtle references for the older generations that are likely to swoop over a few younger heads. In fact more so than usual I would say with the humour more based for adults than children.
Throughout the movie four singing mariachi owls accompany Rango narrating his tale a la the three mice from Babe, well not quite but you get the gist, maybe more the rooster from Robin Hood and provide another perspective that does well to break the movie up and add to the comedy of it all. Speaking of the owls, the music also draws you in and any movie that can play Ride of the Valkyries on a banjo and still make it sound good wins my vote!
All in all Rango has managed to combine great jokes, funny characters and stunning visuals within a solid story. The combination of Depp and Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean 1,2,3) has worked once again and it seems to have broken the mould in so far as it's a children's animation and yet I can see the adults coming away with the bigger smiles.
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