Rango was not the animation that I wanted to see - but things have a way of changing. I mean, an animated western tale, created by first time animators ILM (International Light & Magic), about a scaley lizard - and a posse of desert animals (none of which possess any Disney/Pixar type cuteness), with a theme that seemed more serious than entertaining...oh, and to be directed by Gore Verbinski (of Pirates of the Carribean fame).
I was quite suprised.
Rango has a depth and sophistication I found rather different than most animated fare. Although it may appear a kids movie, the underlying plot combined present-day complexity with a western's sense of honor. Of course, with characters that appear ripped from a child's nightmare, there would be little product-marketing, so I assume they had to at least make the story appealing across the generation board.
Rango (Johnny Depp), is the name of a chameleon, who begins by giving the audience a monologue of some sort of stage play that is going on in his head. We pull back to see that he is in some sort of tank, and instantly, realize that this tank is in the back of a pickup truck in the desert that goes awry and accidently tosses Rango over unto a desert roadway. He is now rather lost, and very out of his element. He meets an Armadillo named Roadkill (Alfred Molina), who just happens to be in the middle of the road with a tire impression run through his center. They speak about a destiny, what lies across the road, the Spirit of the West, and that there is a town in the distance that he may travel to called Dirt.
And so his adventure begins.
On his journey he narrowly escapes being eaten by a hawk, before discovering another lizard named Beans (Isla Fisher), who has the uncanny habit of blanking out during conversations to a near-petrified state. She is heading to the town known as Dirt, and he follows her. There he heads into a saloon occupied by a list of unsavory characters, and this is where he adopts the persona of Rango - a brave gunslinger who lets nothing stand in his way, except for the victims in his path. During this charade, the hawk returns to the town, remembers Rango, and through a series of mishaps, is accidently killed by Rango, which raises his status to Sherrif of the town, by the Mayor, Tortoise John (Ned Beatty), who resides over this town of Dirt, which Rango discovers, is going bone-dry because of the lack of water in its water reserves.
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| Johnny...Is that you |
The reasons for this dryness sets him on another mission to restore the towns water, but the reasons for it being dry, and the value of the water they already have, invites trouble and scoundrals from other neighboring towns, and Rango is off to another adventure.
During each of these adventures, there is an owl mariachi band commenting in song and guitars about the Legend of Rango.
Rango is very entertaining, fast paced, quick-witted, and extreemly adult. The look of the film is unique, and rich in detail, and the humor although on the low scale, is pretty funny (sorta sitcom funny). What really caught my attention was the plot. It seemed straight out of Chinatown (the film starring Jack Nicholson), with a western theme thrown in: a loner, a town, a woman, and town corruption. I was enthrawled. I am sure that the complexity of the script is what attracted Johnny Depp to the role - and provided him yet another opportunity to alter his voice into another character.
I haven't seen many westerns, but can immediatly tell that this was a great homage to them, their style, their sense of conviction, and their underlying message of good vs. evil.
Rango may have started off as a legend in his on mind, but he soon be came a hero in mine.
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