Rango

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a hyper imaginative pet chameleon. When his family loses him out the back of their car, he is left to fend for himself in the middle of a desert. He escapes from a deadly hawk to find a western town called Dirt. The drought has made water incredibly valuable. Through luck and circumstances, Rango become the sheriff, but he is hopelessly clueless.

This is a very well made Nickelodeon animated movie. I wonder if this is going to be a new competitor to the animated field. The animation looks crisp and lively. The only missing element is cuter characters. Lizards are very odd for animation especially if you do it relatively realistic. But it fits very well to the setting of an old decaying western.

Rango is a very original character which actually is reminiscent of Johnny Depp's other big character Jack Sparrow. Does the fact that this is a reunion between Pirates director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp has anything to do with it? The comedy comes from a similar place, and it works well here as well.

"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.

Rango manages to appeal to many interests. First of all, the recreation of the old West is charming. The animators have done a masterful job of producing a setting that really works. The chameleon star finds himself in Dirt, the aforementioned town, and is given the task of saving the water supply. Yes, it is a bit dark and the plot is sophisticated. So why so many 1's and 2's. Is it that people are so easily bored when their minds are a bit challenged by an animated film? This is one of the better films of the year and works on many levels. It also parodies tough Westerns that we have seen in contemporary times.

We all face an existential crisis at some time or another, just usually not when we're seven, which will likely be the mean age of children watching this newest non-Pixar non- DreamWorks animated feature. No, "Rango" won't challenge kids to contemplate their role in the cosmos, but that's precisely the predicament of its main character, a theatrical lizard who finds himself — as many animals in animated films do these days — thrust out of domestic bliss and forced to reckon with the untamed and unforgiving nature of the wild natural world. But in addition to all its verboseness and abstract homage to classic Westerns, "Rango" equally dishes out top-notch physical humor and creative characters for the young ones to lap up, even if they're not exactly of age to, as the film puts at least once, "ruminate."

We don't learn much about Rango's life as a pet lizard. In fact, his name is not even Rango; he adopts it as his identity during his adventure. We do see him create his own theatre productions with the random items in his tank and he pretends that they give him feedback and criticism. When he determines that his latest show needs some intense conflict, he finds himself flung from his tank and on the side of the dry desert road. At the advice of an old armadillo (Molina), he seeks out water and stumbles upon the town of Dirt, a classic Wild West locale full or critters and experiencing a nasty drought.

Johnny Depp quickly loses himself into Rango, a character that's somewhere between his take on Willy Wonka and his turn as Hunter S. Thompson. Depp churns out an outstanding animated protagonist, one who is equal parts boisterous and insecure. As the ultimate outsider in Dirt, our lizard hero has an epiphany: he can reinvent himself out here. He takes up his new name and makes up a fantastical tall tale and then with a pinch of luck, becomes the toast of the town and gets anointed sheriff. All seems swell, but something's up in the town with regards to the dwindling water supply and the local critters are getting restless. Rango must truly be the hero he masquerades as.

The creatures of Dirt are fascinatingly animated. They are gritty and unpleasant looking, but awing in their detail. Rango's facial expressions even out-Depp the man behind them as embodied in the scrawny asymmetrical lizard. The animators do a particularly fine job of creating the hot and dry climate of the desert, enough so to recommend that the film is best enjoyed with a beverage in hand. It's so effective that it magnifies the problematic nature of this simple predicament done hundreds of times before. Hidden underneath it all somewhere has to be an environmental message, but not an overt one and not the main lesson to learn from the story.

The language and texture of the film might be decidedly adult, but the conventions of the story and the degree of action aims specifically for children. Rather than aim for a middle ground, "Rango" somehow takes the highest road and the lowest road simultaneously. The dialogue and the situations are sophisticated but the physicality of the characters and the high-flying Western frontier action still plays to a child's understanding. This only proves that "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski has a real gift for all-ages entertainment.

In addition to Rango's existential quandary, children will not understand the cinematic homages either, particularly to spaghetti Westerns. One of the film's most affecting scenes comes at the moment when our animated hero, as they all do, hits the lowest of lows after he's exposed as a "fraud." Rango has a run-in with "The Spirit of the West," an instantly recognizable figure who has some old-fashioned advice about toughness and walking tall on the path you're given. It's a tender moment as what has been considered a bygone era of cinema plays an important thematic role in such a modern mainstream story.

"Rango" doesn't quite capture the degree of humor and emotional depth that the Pixar greats of the last few years have, but it's a fun adventure with exquisite animation, tasteful characters and a good heart, which puts it as an above-average offering compared to others of its kind. Adults will simply marvel at the intellectual boldness of this pure and simple kids movie and rightfully so. Only with a Pixar gold standard in place does "Rango" come across as flawed; otherwise it's an absolutely pleasant watch from start to finish.

~Steven C

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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