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'Rango' review

Johnny Depp's motion capture debut is a mixed bag

By Geoff Berkshire

Metromix
March 3, 2011

Critic's Rating:

"Rango" (Credit: Paramount)

Rango

Running time:: 105 minutes

Rated:: PG

Cast:

Johnny Depp -

Voice of Rango

Isla Fisher -

Voice of Beans

Abigail Breslin -

Voice of Priscilla

Ned Beatty -

Voice of Mayor

Alfred Molina -

Voice of Roadkill

See full cast

Director:: Gore Verbinski

Genre:: Adventure, Comedy

Official Movie Web Site:: http://www.rangomovie.com/

Overall User Rating:: (0 ratings)

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Rango (Johnny Depp) considers himself a heroic figure, but the pet chameleon has never really experienced life outside his terrarium home. When a series of events lead him to the remote desert town of Dirt, populated entirely by non-human critters, Rango gets the chance to prove himself in the role of sheriff by saving the residents from bandits and winning the heart of desert iguana Beans (Isla Fisher).

The buzz: Depp’s first non-“Pirates of the Caribbean” film with director Gore Verbinski is also the first motion capture animated project either has worked on. Another first: it’s the feature-length animation debut for George Lucas’ special effects house Industrial Light & Magic.

The verdict: A deliberately oddball tribute to spaghetti Westerns with a healthy helping of “Chinatown” noir, “Rango” occupies a bizarre realm between grown-up storytelling and kids entertainment. Immediately announcing its eccentricity with an awkward opening sequence set in Rango’s fantasy world, the film’s forced quirkiness never pays off the way Verbinski seems to intend. Lizards, mice, toads, turtles and snakes fill the cast of not-so-cute characters, and instead of distinguishing the look Tim Burton-style, their designs range from unappealing to unpleasant. With its bleak landscapes, gallows humor, bloated running time and heavy-handed existentialism, “Rango” consistently plays like an adult movie in uncomfortably fitting family-friendly clothes. At least Depp’s performance is looser and livelier than his flesh-and-blood turn in “The Tourist.” He makes Rango a nervy bundle of nerves, and the only presence who counts on screen. A better film would’ve realized the other characters matter too.

Did you know? The Clint Eastwood-inspired character “The Spirit of the West” is voiced by “Justified” star Timothy Olyphant, doing his best Eastwood impression.