← Back to Reviews
in
Here we go! It's been too long.
Rango Review
Having spent the entirety of his life behind glass walls Lars is a bit strange. Having known no social contact either, except his inanimate friends (or “cast members”), he has developed a set of characters rather than an actual personality. But when the scenes end and the delusion shatter he is left in a horrible moment of clarity and sanity. Looking out at a world he can only observe a horrible question pops into his mind - Who am I?
And then the car crashes. He is thrown from the comfort of his self-made paradigm and lands on a road in the middle of the Mojave Desert. In the real world, where he’s the only lizard who can’t fade and the only one who doesn’t know to hide at the shadow of a Hawke. Where the animals have had millions of years to adapt to the harsh environment… but the lizard? He’s going to die, said the Mariachi.
Lars meets a semi flattened armadillo who guides him to the nearest town on a quest for water. The town of Dust is a place of great corruption, an even greater drought and home to a tough bunch of characters. And Lars the lizard doesn’t blend in, which becomes painfully clear the second he enters the local saloon. Until it occurs to him that he can be anyone he wants. And he becomes Rango.
Rango, who killed seven men with one bullet. Who’s from the far west, beyond the sunset, where they kill a man before breakfast just to work up an appetite. Lars, on the other hand, isn’t. But touched by either dumb luck or divine fate he convinces the townsfolk that he is in fact a living legend. He becomes the town sheriff and gets involved in an intricate investigation to find out what happened to the town’s water supply.
Rango is everything Lars thinks a legendary cowboy should be. Having the mind of an actor Lars creates a caricature in excess and assumes that role with matching confidence. But it’s always clear to the audience that Lars doesn’t know what he’s doing. He relies on false confidence and bravado while desperately praying not to get eaten or found out. Brilliantly voiced by Johnny Depp the character is convincing as both Lars and Rango.
Animated features and westerns don’t usually blend but Rango pulls it off in an interesting way. It doesn’t sacrifice the gritty realities of the old west or even the heavy accents (that are extremely well done) but opts to be honest without being too violent. People died in the old west and the film doesn’t try to conceal this fact but kills its characters off in less graphical ways, like drowning or, well, smushing.
The animations and characters are great but not something you would expect from Nickelodeon at all. One rabbit has got an arrow stuck in his eye and several lizard characters might be frightening to some kids, with their yellow eyes, pointy teeth and realistically scaled skin. But the characters that are supposed to be the good guys aren’t evil or immoral but rather eccentric and varied. They’re the kind of characters you would expect in a western, with a few silly ones thrown in the mix to keep it fun.
Animated movies have always tried to keep it interesting for the kids and their parents alike but some might say that Rango went overboard trying to please the parents. Rango is packed with grown-up jokes and references to movies like Fear and Loathing and Apocalypse Now. These are films kids shouldn’t be watching and you can easily assume that they’re not going to get it. The question then becomes whether these adult gags occur too often and too visibly to make the whole thing boring to a ten year old.
The film still tells a heroic story about sacrifice, friendship and that you can be anything you want to be. But beware that it does so tongue-in-cheek and honestly.
Rango’s themes are surprisingly mature and emits in part from an existential crisis, which might sound a bit too heavy for kids to enjoy. But the honest message stands true. Sometimes you gotta sack up and be a hero.
Rango Review
Having spent the entirety of his life behind glass walls Lars is a bit strange. Having known no social contact either, except his inanimate friends (or “cast members”), he has developed a set of characters rather than an actual personality. But when the scenes end and the delusion shatter he is left in a horrible moment of clarity and sanity. Looking out at a world he can only observe a horrible question pops into his mind - Who am I?
And then the car crashes. He is thrown from the comfort of his self-made paradigm and lands on a road in the middle of the Mojave Desert. In the real world, where he’s the only lizard who can’t fade and the only one who doesn’t know to hide at the shadow of a Hawke. Where the animals have had millions of years to adapt to the harsh environment… but the lizard? He’s going to die, said the Mariachi.
Lars meets a semi flattened armadillo who guides him to the nearest town on a quest for water. The town of Dust is a place of great corruption, an even greater drought and home to a tough bunch of characters. And Lars the lizard doesn’t blend in, which becomes painfully clear the second he enters the local saloon. Until it occurs to him that he can be anyone he wants. And he becomes Rango.
Rango, who killed seven men with one bullet. Who’s from the far west, beyond the sunset, where they kill a man before breakfast just to work up an appetite. Lars, on the other hand, isn’t. But touched by either dumb luck or divine fate he convinces the townsfolk that he is in fact a living legend. He becomes the town sheriff and gets involved in an intricate investigation to find out what happened to the town’s water supply.
Rango is everything Lars thinks a legendary cowboy should be. Having the mind of an actor Lars creates a caricature in excess and assumes that role with matching confidence. But it’s always clear to the audience that Lars doesn’t know what he’s doing. He relies on false confidence and bravado while desperately praying not to get eaten or found out. Brilliantly voiced by Johnny Depp the character is convincing as both Lars and Rango.
Animated features and westerns don’t usually blend but Rango pulls it off in an interesting way. It doesn’t sacrifice the gritty realities of the old west or even the heavy accents (that are extremely well done) but opts to be honest without being too violent. People died in the old west and the film doesn’t try to conceal this fact but kills its characters off in less graphical ways, like drowning or, well, smushing.
The animations and characters are great but not something you would expect from Nickelodeon at all. One rabbit has got an arrow stuck in his eye and several lizard characters might be frightening to some kids, with their yellow eyes, pointy teeth and realistically scaled skin. But the characters that are supposed to be the good guys aren’t evil or immoral but rather eccentric and varied. They’re the kind of characters you would expect in a western, with a few silly ones thrown in the mix to keep it fun.
Animated movies have always tried to keep it interesting for the kids and their parents alike but some might say that Rango went overboard trying to please the parents. Rango is packed with grown-up jokes and references to movies like Fear and Loathing and Apocalypse Now. These are films kids shouldn’t be watching and you can easily assume that they’re not going to get it. The question then becomes whether these adult gags occur too often and too visibly to make the whole thing boring to a ten year old.
The film still tells a heroic story about sacrifice, friendship and that you can be anything you want to be. But beware that it does so tongue-in-cheek and honestly.
Rango’s themes are surprisingly mature and emits in part from an existential crisis, which might sound a bit too heavy for kids to enjoy. But the honest message stands true. Sometimes you gotta sack up and be a hero.