Rango Review

Rango

Starring: Johnny Deep, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty, and Bill Nighy

Directed by: Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean)


Alright, so first off. Nickelodeon teams up with Paramount for a movie. Sounds like crap without even hesitating. Any Nickelodeon movies that were made in the past were usually straight to DVD or made for TV, because they didn’t have the caliper to survive box office numbers. Yet Rango is NOT at all what I was expecting. In fact in many ways the visual effects were even more effective than that of any Pixar movie (including names such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E).

Rango was visually stunning, down to the very last scale of a lizard. Throughout the movie, Rango constantly tested your eyes to make sure they were in fine tuning for the trees, to the textures of the characters’ faces, to the colors and the images in the sky. Rango takes advantage of every color in the palette to tell a story about a lonely lizard who struggles to find an identity after much time being spent by himself in an aquarium with a dead bug, a sexy doll with a missing head, and a windup goldfish. Rango is an actor of sorts, but once he’s force to live in civilization, he’s not sure what role he’s suppose to play.

The movie is strongly based around western movie clichés but with that, finds ways to parody them or cleverly alter what made them cliché to begin with. The dialogue in the film is very witty, and creative. Like a line that Rango (Johnny Depp) says, “I think your metaphor just ruptured by spleen”. At times the dialogue and themes even ride the line of Family movie and PG-13 down to very last chapter of this self-proclaimed hero’s tale. Themes of self meaning, and contemplation of life are sprinkled in right before the climax of the movie. We even see subtle hints at suicide that aren’t obvious enough for a young audience, but easy to pick up for an adult.

Regardless of its small bits of darkness, Rango is a fun and enjoyable ride through the mid-west. You may even need to put on your spurs, or in Rango’s case find a gun belt that fits. A great round of supporting voices such as: Isla Fisher (as Beans), Ned Beatty (Mayor), and Bill Nighy (Rattlesnake Jack) that help Johnny Depp carry along this beautiful tale about identity and belonging. And for those who are fans of the movie Unforgiven, then you’ll love the CGI cameo before the climax. Amazing! All in all this movie was something that anyone could enjoy, with slapstick humor and fantastic dialogue.

8 out of 10