qualified but not certified

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Rango

Dir. Gore Verbinski
Starring. Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abagail Breslin

In general the Animated Talking Animal Genre makes me want to punch squirrels. Remember Madagascar 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6? The Ant Bully? All of the Ice Ages? Alpha and Omega?Chicken Little? Chicken Run? Over the Hedge? Open Season? Shark Tale? Bolt? Ok, ok I'll stop there. You get my point. For every Finding Nemo, there are at least ten Doogals.

So you can imagine the magnitude of my disdain when I first became aware of Rango, an animated tale of a bunch of walking, talking, gunslinging, bank robbing desert animals living in a Wild West style town. Has Johnny Depp sunk so low? I scoffed. Yet miraculously, and this doesn't happen often (it does), I ended up having to eat my words. Impressively, Rango manages to set itself apart from its CGi abusing counterparts. It does so with an entertaining and solid script, clever jokes, classic western references, and stunning animation.

Rango (Johnny Depp) is the name our leading lizard gives to himself when he is thrown from his comfortable but lonely life as a pet chameleon and thrust into the small desert town of Dirt. It's a classic fish out of water tale, and the high minded dreamer that is Rango suddenly finds himself playing the role of the town's much needed hero. The citizens of Dirt are in danger as their most important commodity, water, is mysteriously running out, and they soon put all their faith in the little lizard to restore their supply and save the town.

Depp along with a supporting cast that includes Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Bill Nighy, and Ray Winstone, manage to completely bring to life this tale of a lovable bunch of mangy desert critters. Their performances, which were acted out in full by the cast, are beautifully captured in the mannerisms of the characters, adding a layer of humanity to the animated animals. The environment is photo-realistic at times and its many different textures are beautifully realized. Bravo to effects company Industrial Light and Magic, who have never done a full length feature film before, for making CGI awe-inspiring again.

Parents, you should beware that some of the jokes in the film may be a little too adult for your youngsters. They're sure to have questions for you ("Mommy, what's fecal matter?"), some of which you may not be keen to answer. But at least you'll be entertained, and if you're worried it might all sail over your tot's tiny head, fear not. There's enough fart jokes thrown in to see your kid through all that talk of existential crises.

Although Rango doesn't quite have the heart of say Finding Nemo, its themes are universal and it's exceptionally clever for a self proclaimed children's film. Finally, someone besides Pixar has figured out how to make a smart and entertaining animated film for audiences of all ages.

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