Review: Rango
Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 March 2011 21:30 Tuesday, 01 March 2011 21:28
An animated adventure in the Wild West… meets Nickelodeon! That was my initial impression of Rango, whose advanced screening I got to attend on Saturday, February 26th. A 3-D animated film of 107 minutes, Rango tells the story of a chameleon who always dreamed of being an actor placed into a new situation where he literally has to play a role to save a town from drought.
But before you wave this away as a flick to see with your kids on a Sunday morning while you’re still half-asleep, keep in mind that the humor in this film is one which pleases audiences of various ages and that the occasional embrace of your child at heart is healthy. If anything was heard from the audience during this movie, it was roars of laughter at the appropriate and inappropriate alike. This is especially true if you’re well-versed in popular culture, as the film bears tribute to other works such as The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars if you watch carefully.
Those involved in the movie are without a doubt high-profile, with Johnny Depp voicing the main role of Rango and Bill Nighy voicing Rattlesnake Jake, one of the villains. Isla Fisher is the voice talent of the female lead, while the director is Gore Verbinski, the same genius behind Pirates of the Caribbean. As such, an out-of-this-world adventure is definitely guaranteed by viewers of this film.
My only concern about this film would be the plotline. As fun as the Western stereotype is to explore from a comedic perspective and through an animated medium, it is stereotypical and overdone. The plot was nothing spectacular and was made to shine primarily through the hilarious wit that the mariachi band possessed and the dry humor that came along with it. “New guy in town becomes big fat hero and loves the first girl he sees” pretty much summarizes it all up, although you could also argue that a Western works because of the super-formulaic plot in the first place.
Overall, see it if you’re a fan of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Pirates of the Caribbean and are the type who is fond of Westerns. I do believe this combination also makes Rango a good film for Firefly fans, as well as fans of Johnny Depp. Although I’m not big on 3-D animation myself, it was not a Saturday night I regretted and did utter quite a few chuckles at the fabulous humor in this film!