“Rango” is a story about finding out who you are, how to stay yourself in an ever-changing world, and being the person you created. Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) is a chameleon who was confined to the glass walls of his terrarium and created characters and scenarios for him to play upon. One fateful day while traveling in the back seat of his owner’s car, his terrarium, with him inside, was ejected from the vehicle in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Rango then runs into a shaman-like armadillo that tells him that he needs to travel to the town of Dirt in order to find the water he needs to quench his thirst under the harsh, blistering sun. Once he reaches the town of Dirt, the movie changes. Previously, the movie was filled with action, comedy, and a modern feel. Once Rango gets to the town (about 15 minutes in), the movie seems to drift away from the comedy to focus on the western setting and story. Laughs will still ensue, but it was not like the side splitting beginning.
In fact, I can easily say that this movie’s story and feel make it not a children’s movie (even though it is produced by nickelodeon and is a computer generated cartoon movie). The film handles heavy subjects such as alcoholism and murder. The story is a western at its heart, but like good westerns, it may not be what a parent wants their children to see. The story is a murder mystery; the transformation of Rango from someone playing a part, to becoming the part, and a search for the most precious thing in the town—water. H2O is the life of the town of Dirt: people pay for items with it, need it, worship it, and it is, unfortunately, gone and has been for some time. Hope is all but lost until Rango shows up and inspires the town to search for water. But unfortunately, the story runs a bit dry from time to time with its hit-or-miss humor, lack of action, and general missteps.
One misstep is how it seems a tad confused as to who its target audience is. One would think that the director of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films (Gore Verbinski) would know how to walk that fine line between being too mature for the younger audiences and being mature enough to grasp the attention of the older folk. It misses that completely and seems to be staying close to a dark, crude, western tale with some juvenile dialogue that seems vastly misplaced just to justify and keep its PG rating. This is most apparent in its happy ending that is directly contradictory to its overall dark theme. It dwells on death, deceit, and revenge, like most good westerns. Some of the dialogue and most of the humor is actually very crude, including alcoholism, smoking, and racism. If I was a parent, I would not take my younger children to this film.
What this film does do right is the animation. It is simply stunning, and shows a fantastic art direction. It is exaggerated and rich. Colors pop, light shines, and every detail is seen in brilliance. It is sometimes like watching art being painted upon the movie screen. The director knows this and makes sure that the animation in and of itself is another character.
The art and animation, unfortunately, are not enough to hold a viewer’s attention during one of its many slow parts. The movie was surprisingly sinister and mature. Overall, it was an enjoyable little film that should by viewed by fans of westerns, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, or someone looking for a film that is vastly different from the normal Hollywood CGI films. In the end, it was like watching a gorgeous painting of a western ghost town dry under the desert sun.
By V-Dawg
