Rango Review

Given that Rango is produced and directed by Gore Verbinski and stars Johnny Depp in the titular role, one could be forgiven for any wariness about the film, given the sharp decrease in quality of the pair’s previous creative foray, thePirates of the Caribbean franchise. Thankfully, Rango is a vast improvement on the last two films and, while the first was no masterpiece, it did have a certain joie de vivre and swagger about it that Rango manages to recapture.

Rango is the tale of a wacky chameleon who, through a series of accidents, subterfuge and coincidence, takes on the role of the sheriff in the small frontier town of Dirt. Dirt is populated by an assortment of creatures whose main concern is the mysterious reduction of their water supply. Eager to impress his new friends, Rango takes it upon himself to rehydrate Dirt and prove himself a hero.

A little bit of Johnny Depp’s quirkiness can go a long way, but he manages to strike an excellent balance here in his voicing of the quixotic lizard, his verbal tics and quips creating a funny and likable character. Isla Fisher also voices the excellently named Beans (“my daddy loved his beans!”), an amusing, no-nonsense foil to Depp’s would-be suitor. The large cast is further complemented by the talents of Bill Nighy, Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina and Ray Winstone.

The animation style is particularly impressive too – the anthropomorphised animals looking both photorealistic and highly stylised. The western scenery also looks grand and there’s an almost tangible level of care evident in creating the world of the film and its characters. There are several nods and homages to the western genre which is appreciable. The film is not only very funny, but also manages to include at least one brilliant action sequence, in which our hero and his posse flee a horde of bat-riding critters in a thrilling set piece. There’s also a certain amount of sentiment – thankfully kept mostly in check and, most importantly, a consistent level of charm.

Needless to say, I liked Rango a lot. What sets it apart from most family-orientated CGI animations, however, was its sizable weird streak. I’m sure an awful lot of the humour in Rango will go straight over the heads of the sprogs watching (an excellent Fear and Loathing in Las Vegasreference early on perhaps being the most amusing example) and at times it feels as if the film borders on being somewhat inappropriate for younger kids – the film is rather scary and creepy at times, Rango’s imminent death is foretold frequently by the film’s narrators, several characters are killed off or maimed; not to mention the part where a cross-dressing Rango lands on a friend’s head, only for the creature to emerge from under his frock to claim the experience was “not altogether unpleasant!” There’s also a sequence that seems like a direct spoof of the dream sequence in the Johnny Cash starring Simpsons episode, El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer. I loved all this stuff, but doubtless some parents may want to play it a bit safer and go for Yogi Bearor Gnomeo and Juliet instead. That would be their loss. Rango is probably the most original, funniest and best designed family films since Toy Story 3 and deserves as much attention as it can get.