Rango

Rango is a great kids' movie that plays on many levels, like all great kids' movies. About a hundred churchies here don't like it; that tells you it's realistic and morally complex. (One person complained about its metaphors for good and evil, because "many people take God and Satan seriously". Yeah, but we don't all think we hold a copyright on them.) And some folks helicoptered in to complain that it's violent and would scare some kids. Fifty years ago my parents took me to see Bambi and it scared me. So did Dumbo. It's vital that kids learn about fear, danger, and violence, and a cartoon is the softest place to do it. Thank God my folks understood that. For the record, Rango's violence is funny and completely unrealistic. Would it kill you to talk to your own kids about the difference between slapstick and the real world?

There are "swear words" here, if you still think "hell" and "damn" are swear words, because it's a gritty Western. (That happens to star a chameleon.) There are a lot of Hispanic references and characters, because Hispanics invented cowboys and the "American" West; Nickelodeon simply decided to unwhite-ify the Hollywood version, for a change. (The guy I read who complained about that wasn't even Hispanic. Meanwhile, I have Hispanic friends who love this movie, in part because they're in it, for once)

There are several stereotypes, ethnic and otherwise, because it's a satire. If you can't grasp irony, avoid this movie. In fact, never go outside. And several minor characters smoke. I hate smoking. But: stereotypes, remember? Westerns? Cultural memes? How about just teaching kids the difference between allegory and real life?

As for the moral content, the "lessons" of Rango, which, I think I can state without incurring a spoiler slap, are: 1. the world is a crazy place, 2. scary problems have to be solved by ordinary people, and 3. a quick wit and a lot of luck sometimes beats a quick draw and a lot of money.

If you agree with that, and aren't scared of your own shadow, see the movie. I loved it, and I'm hard to please. It's a great romp, a witty farce, and a lot of fun, precisely because Nickelodeon didn't sugar it down to pious drek.

The Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year went to Rango and to be honest in this category it clearly deserves that. After The Ring and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Gore Verbinski brings us another highly entertaining movie, this time with something slightly different as it is an animated movie. The images and characters are just perfect, it's all very creative and visually stunning. As for the actors, or better the voice-overs, they were perfect in their roles. I can't see anybody narrating Rango better than Johnny Depp. The story is simple but effective, with alot of humor, maybe not for the younger kids but more for adults with a healthy imagination and that don't mind watching animation movies every now and then. Rango, a movie I will watch again in the future.

"Rango" is more appealing to adults than to kids. It has a lot of reference to the old western movies which kids might not understand. There is nothing new about this movie but "Rango" is visually stunning, full of decency and totally hilarious.Though there are problems about the story but it's dark, crazy, and exciting.

The story is nothing but reference of other western movies. It's kind of a remembrance but it's not compelling and new. There is nothing new about the story. It's just a western relic.

The best thing about this movie is its animation. The visuals are wonderful and eye candy. The character design looks old fashion zany and I love it. Kind of reminded me of "The Misadventures of Flapjack" a TV show from CN. While this movie is from Nickelodeon there are some humor that kids will perhaps laugh. The movie is not in 3D. "Rango" proves us that 3D is not necessary to our lives. 3D shrinks the scale of a movie.

There are no flaws with the voice acting. Johnny Depp is really meant for Rango. Isla Fisher did this before in Horton Hears A Who so it's okay. Bill Nighy is an amazing villain. I want more Ned Beattys' sexy voice. Too bad Timothy Olyphant didn't have enough scenes but it's still great.

My favorite thing about the visuals is the environment. Look at the sky and the desert. Cinematography is also great. Every visuals are eye candy. The scene when Rango and his friends are being chased by bats and gophers is truly breathtaking.

Maybe the reason why Ebert gave this movie a perfect rating because it's not in 3D. Well Rango is not flawless but it is still entertaining. If you like beautiful visuals then I will recommend this movie to death. The story is not really unique. It's still worth watch. The merits makes us ignore the flaws of this movie.

After an extremely weak first quarter in the cinematic world full of remakes, re-dos, 3-D flicks and movies about gnomes (really…really?) we finally have something fresh, original, and quite trippy to kickoff 2011. Once again reaching into his Western roots, Gore Verbinski makes up for what he did to World's End and delivers one heck of an animated film. Rango is full of surprises: surprisingly violent, surprisingly smart, surprisingly full of western references left and right, and with a surprisingly incredible western score that matches that of Ennio Morricone (never thought I'd say that). If you can muster its sluggish start, extremely fast-pace humor and rather bizarre moments throughout, then you will thoroughly enjoy Rango and its Western mayhem. And who said the Western genre is dead....

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a chameleon that after a mishap inside his tank comes across a town full of desperation and hopelessness. With a little bit of luck and a lot of lying, Rango becomes sheriff of the town but runs into a lot of trouble when the water supply hits low and tensions start rising. The storyline is nothing new, but the script (Good work John Logan) is full of fresh ideas, fun action pieces, and a great assortment of characters. In the midst of the script lie so many homages and references to classic westerns you can make up one heck of a drinking game.

A strong factor into the fun of Rango is the excellent voice acting, which rivals that of Pixar's best casting work (See: The Incredibles and Finding Nemo). Johnny Depp is phenomenal in all his crazy roles, and his performance of the hilarious Rango is nothing short of brilliant. But, let's not forget the great work of Isla Fischer (as the lead female), Bill Nighy (as the sinister Rattlesnake Jake), and the great singing of the owl mariachi (Los Lobos). And speaking of singing, let's talk about music. Hans Zimmer was robbed when Inception didn't win Original Score, but he deserves even more praise with the score here. It is an incredible mix of guitar, strings, orchestra, and nods to masterful Morricone, and is hands-down the best score since Michael Giacchino's "Up." I am strongly contemplating buying the soundtrack if it's out in stores.

The three main reasons why Rango works: Johnny Depp, Hans Zimmer, and Gore Verbinski. Very few blockbuster directors have the zaniness and range of Verbinski; as his repertoire includes Pirates of the Caribbean (epic blockbuster), The Ring (horror), The Mexican (I still don't know...) and Mousehunt (underrated dark family comedy). His talents can be shown here as he interweaves strange dream sequences with unique action sequences and plenty of hilarious moments. This movie also doesn't hold back for the kiddies, as it has the language, adult dark humor, strong themes, and heavy violence of a good-ol' western. Just picture what were to happen if Chuck Jones directed a tamed Quentin Tarantino script. And Lord knows there is not enough Chuck Jones influence in the modern animated movie world.

Bottom Line: Rango works because of its fresh originality and its refusal to follow the clichéd rules of children animated flicks. It ditched the 3-D, ditched the watered-down tone we see all too much, while we experience a very unique take on Westerns while at the same time see plenty of odes and homages to them. The zany edge of classic Warner Brothers doesn't happen enough in this millennium (With Emperor's New Groove being the outstanding example) so its great whenever we see a Chuck Jones-style of entertainment. While the movie is quite gritty for a PG flick and some of its off-color content may throw you off, I am confident when I say that Rango is the first good flick of 2011. Once again Depp, great job. Your career is astounding and even underrated in critical acclaim standards. Zimmer, I think its time to start making an Oscar dedicated to you, because that was quite a musical trip. And Verbinski, I forgive you for World's End.

A good animated film, I had never seen an animated western with animals before this. Johnny Depp is fantastic as always and the rest of the cast does a good job.

Music is solid and whilst not up the standards of some older Western films like Good the bad and the ugly it's still quite good. I liked the actual cinematography of the film as well, how Rango and Beans stood out in almost every seen, compared to the drabness of the drabness of the town Rango is rather colourful.

The plot is really interesting as well, with water being used as currency and the usual corrupt rich hoarding lots of it and not distributing it fairly. I've seen better plots but it's easy for children to follow and compelling enough for adults

Action wise I thought it was average personally but a certain serpentine character was very well designed and thoroughly intimidating.

7/10: Definitely deserves a watch, especially if you're interested in classic westerns, and I think the genuinely interesting characters and animation are worth a viewing for people who like that stuff too