Rango Review

Rating: 4.5/5

True detail is hard to capture on film. If you over-stretch your special effects, they become overly noticeable. If you make an animated feature, it's hard to not look like Pixar. Even then, it's hard to be good. Go to IMDB and see how many movies like Igor and Planet 51 and Happily N'Ever After there are, and you'll know what I mean. Now we come to Rango.

Rango (Johnny Depp) gets thrown out of his terrarium by accident and drops smack into the mojave desert. Guided by a mystical armadillo (Alfred Molina) and narrated by mariachi owls, Rango finds himself in the middle of a water conspiracy land grab. He quickly becomes a hero in the town of 'Dirt,' and is named sheriff. Now, Rango must not only live up to the legend that he made up, but help the townsfolk.

I have no idea how you direct an animated movie, but Gore Verbinski does an outstanding job here. I love The Ring and Pirates of the Caribbean, and I love Rango. He coaxes wonderful performances out of each of the actors. This is helped out by the magnificent writing, which has incredible dialogue and action sequences.

If you go back to my True Grit review, you'll understand how much I love westerns. And Rango is a western, there's no doubt about it. There's a dastardly land grabber, a spunky love interest just trying to save her dad's land, a legendary gunman, a villainous yet honorable outlaw, and even a nervous and sophisticated banker with little glasses. And even though they're all anthropomorphic animals, it all melds together into a great movie.

Finally, Rango is arguably the best looking CG-Animated film ever made. The attention to detail put into this movie is nothing short of absolutely astounding. Everything is in absolutely perfect sync, and the story is told perfectly through the gorgeous animation. The voices are perfect (except a rather boring Timothy Olyphant), and the story is a magnificent western journey. Not True Grit good, but damn good. Go see it.