Lone Ranger

I was surprised to learn that many people deem the 2013 Lone Ranger as 'unsalvageable', and there are a few decent reasons why. The plot is quite convoluted and the gritty tone is a bit off putting, but it's a film that always manages to entertain me.

Armie Hammer does a decent job as the titular character, and he has good chemistry with Johnny Depp's Tonto. Depp might've been an odd choice for the character, and you could argue it's a Jack Sparrow reskin, but he makes Tonto strange and humorous to watch.

One of the film's greatest strengths are the action and the humour. In particular, I really love the climax, which gets my vote for potentially the best train chase in cinema history. Zimmer's score is also great, and very dramatic. The film did go massively over budget, but I think that was a good thing because of just how much of it can be found on screen.

You could cite this as a misguided Pirates of the Caribbean clone, and in some ways there are similarities. But the influences aren't too noticeable, and the film is still a lot of fun. It is something of a shame it never got any sequels, but it stands on its own just fine.

The early signs were not good, tales of production problems galore and early critical notices wading in to kick the film before it had even had a run at the theatres. The Lone Ranger seemed destined to be a blockbuster stinker. Yet in spite of it noticeably alienating original Lone Ranger purists, and some Western lovers as well, for a rollicking action fun packed time then Gore Verbinski's movie delivers in spades.

It's awash with the serial silliness of adventure films and TV shows of yore, pitching good guys against bad guys with buddy buddy shenanigans pulsing away at the core. The stunts are outrageously enjoyable, the landscape photography as beautiful as it is respectful in homage to past masters of the Western genre, while in Depp's Tonto there's a bona fide hero to root for just as much as he makes you laugh out loud.

This is an origin story, a tale of how John Reid (Armie Hammer) became The Lone Ranger, and of course how the noble steed Silver and Indian side-kick Tonto became integral to his villain fighting ways. Tom Wilkinson and William Fitchner file in for polar opposite villain duties, the former is the weasel business man trying to mould the West in is own image, the latter a repugnant psychopath with a penchant for eating human hearts! Then Helena Bonham Carter wanders in from some Grindhouse movie for a couple of cameos that are resplendent with sexual energy.

It's all very wacky and wild, and rightly so, but this is not at the expense of very good story telling. Some parts of the narrative could have been trimmed, but as the bromance builds between our two heroes, and Silver gets up to all sorts of comedy horse escapades, there's nary a dull moment here. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Verbinski throw all the action staples into the pot. Chases, fights, swinging from ropes, shoot-outs, people dangling from speeding train (pic is bookended by awesome train sequences), grisly deaths and on it goes from start to end.

There's caustic asides to the machinations of organisations of the time, from railroad magnates to the cavalry, while the catchphrases and legends of The Lone Ranger TV series are deftly inserted into the tale. It was interesting to see Depp come out and defend the movie against those damning early critic reviews, it's not something he does, being as he is very much a guy who sees acting as just a job. Bruckheimer, Hammer and Verbinski backed Depp up, stating that some reviews were written before the film had even been released, the big budget and production problems clearly making this a big stinker…

Not so, it's certainly not flawless, and those seriously into anachronisms are likely to have kittens. But if you haven't seen it yet, if you was put off by the venomous early reviews, then give it a chance, you may just be surprised at just how entertaining it is. It also looks and sounds brilliant on Blu-ray, where repeat viewings even show Hammer to be better than first thought as that masked man. 8.5/10

OK, I went to see Lone Ranger on July 4th due to the un-ending rain that was hitting Northern Georgia at the time. I normally don't go to see movies and pay full price (we have a dollar theater not far from here), because usually movies produced today don't warrant paying $8 - $12 or more for a ticket. Anyway, my wife gave me a choice of either the new Sandra Bullock movie or The Lone Ranger, and I told her that many movies don't translate well to a smaller television screen - my way of getting out of seeing another stupid Bullock pic. I must say that the $21 spent on a few tickets the day after opening, was well spent. Depp stole the show. His portrayal of Tonto was very well done. I don't believe it was "over the top", as many might say, he played it well, and I feel that the part was written for him. William Fichtner who plays Butch Cavendish, does an excellent job, and the make-up throughout the film was extraordinary. The action was well balanced, and the CGI Effects complimented the action well. Overall, I would say the hard earned money I forked over for tickets was well spent, and I firmly believe that this will be a top money grosser for the 2013 Summer season. Do yourself a favor and see The Lone Ranger on the big screen - don't wait for the DVD version to see it first. Buy the DVD for the behind the scenes footage - that would be most interesting indeed.

I recently attended an early screening for the film at Disney's California Adventure and wow it was great. The story is well told and gives you a good idea of how a man named John Reid becomes the Lone Ranger who is brilliantly played by Armie Hammer. Johnny Depp obviously stole the show for his portrayal of Tonto; I thought it was one of his best characters he's ever played. The highlight here is the two's chemistry throughout the film, these are two very different people who both have different perspectives on life and they were just hilarious together. My only problem with the film was the supporting cast, I thought some characters were a little under developed and not as enjoyable as the leads. I wished the villain were just as enjoyable like how Geoffrey Rush was for Curse of the Black Pearl. So in other terms the film is not as good as Curse of the Black Pearl but more superior then the Prate sequels. Go see this movie you'll have a great time, and people can learn from this movie it's got some good messages.

Just got back from seeing it and we were thoroughly entertained. Depp and Hammer were fantastic in their roles and the action was over the top, as expected. Be advised, this film is told from Tonto's point of view based on his recollections of what transpired. This is not an Oscar contender, nor was it ever intended to be, but it is a great popcorn flick. It is violent in certain scenes and may not be suitable for smaller children, but for adults and tweens, it is about right. I did think that the first 10-15 mins or so were a little too slap-sticky for me, but once it gets going, it gets good. To all of the naysayers out there, what did you think you were going to see? It is essentially a western Pirates of the Caribbean, and Depp portrayed his character with the usual humorous persona he always does.