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Rango Movie Review

Rango is a 2011 animated western comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp. This is one of the strangest US animated films in recent memory.

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“I couldn’t help but notice you noticing me noticing you“

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Rango, a pet chameleon who aspires to be a hero, lands in a drought-affected town plagued by bandits. He claims to be the savior and makes an attempt to protect it. When this came out back in 2011, most critics loved it. Watching it for the second time, I personally continue to admire it more than I love it for various reasons.

The main gripe that I have with it is its willingness to focus so heavily on countless classic western references without adding anything fresh and new for itself. Verbinski clearly adores westerns, but I wish that he put more interesting original ideas into this plot that is overall solid and the drought theme is well realized, but the movie is mostly emphasizing action and adventure over message and emotions.

The action scenes were overwhelming, but admittedly they were much better executed than so many other counterparts in this industry. The one where they are chased by the bats was particularly inspired and amazingly scored. The film definitely reached operatic qualities in certain highly cinematic sequences.

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I did not particularly care for the titular protagonist. Johnny Depp’s voice isn’t the best fit for animation as it is too recognizable and overly nasal. This chameleon has a standard arc where he goes from coward to hero. He is very well developed for sure, but not the most unique character out there. The others have their moments, but the most memorable one has to be the villain of the feature – Jake the rattlesnake. I loved this character as he is super cool, menacing and dangerous. He was the perfect villain choice here.

Rango’s animation is absolutely gorgeous. The cinematography is strikingly grandiose and cinematic while the character design is incredibly varied and hilariously ugly. Most characters look like real animals instead of cartoony ones, and that was a great choice to go along with the film’s strange tone. The imagery of the desert is frequently beautiful and the CG is super polished. This is one of the rare modern animated movies that seemed genuinely different from others in the media.

Rango also has pretty strong dialogue and some solid humor. A couple of lines made me chuckle and the physical gags are mostly the best comedically speaking. While the film lacks thematically speaking, it does have a solid adventure in it and a very memorable third act that is even epic in its feel. Overall, it felt too odd at times and overly concerned with homages, but there is no doubt about it – this is the weirdest animated Oscar winner so far.

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