Rango

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Rango, a pet chameleon (Johnny Depp), becomes accidentally stranded in the Mojave Desert after his terrarium falls from his owner’s car. After meeting an armadillo named Roadkill (Alfred Molina) who is seeking the mystical Spirit of the West, he narrowly avoids being eaten by a hawk. The next day, after having a surreal nightmare, he meets a desert iguana Beans (Isla Fisher), a rancher’s daughter, who takes him to Dirt, an Old West town populated by desert animals.

Beans discovers that the water reserves, stored in a water-cooler bottle in the bank, are dangerously low. At the Gas Can Saloon, Rango, using bravado and improvisation to fit in, presents himself as a tough drifter. He quickly runs afoul of outlaw Bad Bill (Ray Winstone), narrowly avoiding a shootout when the hawk returns, scaring Bill. The hawk chases Rango until by luck Rango kills the predator by crushing it under an empty water tower he’s accidentally made collapse. In response, Mayor Tortoise John (Ned Beatty) appoints Rango the new sheriff. A skeptical Beans demands Rango investigate the water problem while the townsfolk worry that the hawk was the only thing keeping gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake from returning to terrorize them.

That night, Rango inadvertently gives some mole robbers the location of the bank and tools to break into the vault. When the townsfolk find their water stolen, Rango organizes a posse that finds bank manager Mr.Merrimack (Stephen Root) dead. They eventually track the robbers to their mountain hideout, only for their leader, Balthazar (Harry Dean Stanton), to reveal that his clan of moles, prairie dogs and others greatly outnumbers the posse. Nabbing the covered wagon water-bottle, the posse flees, chased in a ground and air fight before discovering the bottle is empty. Despite the robbers professing that they’d discovered it empty, the posse returns them to town for trial.

After Rango and Beans deduce that the Mayor has been buying all the nearby land around, Rango recalls the mayor telling him how controlling water equals control of everything. He confronts the mayor, who denies he has done anything wrong and shows Rango that he is building a modern city on the old land. With no proof of the mayor’s wrongdoing, Rango leaves, while the mayor orders one of his men to call Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) — who soon arrives, firing shots with his gatling gun tail. Recognizing that Rango is a fake, Jake runs him out of town after humiliating him and making him admit that everything he told the town about himself is a lie.

Ashamed and no longer knowing who he is, Rango wanders the desert and in a daze meets the Spirit of the West (Timothy Olyphant), a cowboy whom Rango calls the Man with No Name. The Spirit inspires Rango and tells him, “No man can walk out on his own story.” With the aid of Roadkill and mystical moving cacti, Rango learns the source of Dirt’s water is Las Vegas, and that someone has shut off a water line. Realizing the mayor’s hand in this, Rango recruits the hill clan in his plan.

Returning to town, he calls out Jake for a duel — a diversion so that the hill folk and the cacti can flood the town with water. The mayor threatens Beans’ life, forcing Rango to surrender. The two are put into the bank vault to drown, while the mayor prepares to shoot Jake, whom he calls a relic. However, Rango manages to take the only bullet from the gun and uses it to break the door of the vault, flooding the room and taking out the mayor and his men. Jake, acknowledging Rango as a worthy opponent for saving his life, grabs the mayor and drags him into the desert to take his revenge. The citizens of Dirt celebrate the return of the water and acknowledge Rango as their hero.

Throughout the film, an owl mariachi band provides commentary that breaks the fourth wall.

REVIEW:

 I just came back from watching this film, and I have to say that all the positive praise everyone has been giving it is well worth it. Rango is a fun family film that keeps everyone entertained, but it isn’t perfect.

Fist of all, let me bow down to the genius decision to not put this in 3D. In this day when almost every film, especially animated family fare is forced down our throats with those rental glasses and the extra $$$$, it was great to go to film that was just there with no gimmicks or anything, though, I think it could have easily fallen into the 3D trap.

The film is about a lizard, apparently a chameleon, who has lived his life in a glass tank, but thanks to some roadkill, he is thrown out the window and is free to roam, which leads to the majority of the film. After his abrupt newly found freedom, the nameless lizard is told to wander the desert and happens across the town of Dirt, becomes the sheriff through some colorful stories, and eventually becomes the town’s savior.

Now, there is some more stuff between all that, but you have to see the film to find out what it is.

Let me start with the bad. It is no secret that I dislike films that start off slow and/or lag in the middle, and unfortunately Rango suffers from that affliction. This film also comes off as a bit predictable or formulaic. This is most apparent when Rango’s secret is revealed. I mean, why is it he deceit had to be discovered? Would someone tell me that? These people needed something to believe in, and it was more than apparent in the opening scene that Rango was a bit of an actor, or so he thinks. So, what harm would it have been for him to go on playing this character and giving the people something to believe in. I seriously saw nothing wrong with that.

On the other side, this is some of the best animation I’ve seen in quite some time. Not to take anything away from other animated masterpieces, but the detail in this film just takes it to another level. Some will say that these characters were made to look a little dirty and freaky. That may be the case, but take a look at the people in westerns such as The Magnificent Seven. These people aren’t exactly pictures of cleanliness and perfection. The animators took this idea and translated it to these animals.

This story isn’t exactly original. As a matter of fact, it seemed to be a nod to Clint Eastwood’s Man with no name trilogy. You know, the films that include The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, for instance. They even make as blatant a reference as one can near the end.  It’s quite interesting and surprising when you see it, let me tell you.

Character design was great. I already mentioned the look of the townspeople, but I have to talk about 3 characters in particular. The little girl, who I think was an opossum had to be one of the most detailed characters in the picture, save for maybe Rattlesnake Jake. Beans was interesting because I still don’t know exactly what she was supposed to be. My theory is she’s one of those weird creatures like Gonzo from the Muppets that we’re just supposed to keep wondering WTF?!?, but I could be wrong. Finally, Rango…I heard/read somewhere that it is believed he was based on the poster for another Johnny Depp film, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I had to actually look  at the poster to see for myself, and in comparing the two, I do see it, though I’m not so sure that was the intent.

If you’ve ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, then you know about that scene where there isn’t much of anything except the twisted notions in the mind of Jack Sparrow. Well, we get the same thing here with Rango’s twisted psyche, but seeing as how most o the crew worked on both films, should we have been surprised. Thing is, I think it worked better in animation form.

The voice casting is top-notch, with named like Depp, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty, Isla Fisher, and a cameo from Timothy Olyphant, they could do no wrong.

I want to lightly touch on the mariachi owls. These guys were great narrators, though in the first appearance, the trumpet player’s valves were stuck. Hey, I play trumpet, you think I’m not going to notice that?

Finally, let me talk about this water shortage thing that was the major plot point of this film. As I was watching this, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of political statement that the filmmakers were making, or if they just wanted to use water as currency. I mean, the used a giant water cooler for the town bank and there was this weird ritualistic dance sequence in front of a spigot, so that idea went out the window, but it is worth mentioning.

Rango isn’t as kid-friendly as some of the other recently released animated films, but it isn’t as hardcore as say, Beowulf (which technically isn’t a family film) or A Christmas Carol. Still, it is a great time to be had by all with fun, excitement, and even subtle references to classic western cinema. Although I wish it would have been funnier, I highly recommend Rango to any and everyone!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars