REVIEW: Rango

I have a hard time with animated films. I would not quite call it a prejudice, but outside of Pixar films, I am not likely to get excited about them. Animation is for the second decade of the 2000s what horror was for the first. Studios pump them out en masse because they make money and cost less. Generally speaking there is quantity without quality. Rango piqued my interest however. Gore Verbinski, director of the first two Pirates of the Caribbean films and the American remake of The Ring, helming a non-live action one was part of it. Ultimately though, it was the atmosphere. Not much of a fan of Johnny Depp, on the whole, however, seeing Rango wearing a shirt befitting of Raoul Duke caught me off guard and drew me to the theater.

Easily one of the biggest theatrical surprises in a long time. The character design was stupendous. I was fortunate to see it with sequential artists/cartoonists friends and for nearly the entire 107 minute runtime we were in awe. Within the first ten minutes, upon seeing a rundown armadillo, you know you are in for something more bizarre than the trailer would lead you to believe. Quirk rules as the odd vernacular and obtuse movements lead on. However, once you reach the town and are privy to the full scale of how much detail went into every single character, you see the master craftsmanship. A bar populated by characters that would rival Mos Eisley Cantina. A mid-air dogfight with exploding bats. A uniqueness to every animal in both look and personality. Something special was going on here.

Design aside....It is certainly a film that will go over many children's heads. It is essentially, without trying to hide it, Chinatown (complete with the Mayor dressed exactly like John Huston and with a plot about the control of a town's water supply) if made my Sergio Leone (complete with a "Clint Eastwood" cameo). The plot is thus very familiar. Which is okay. Plot is essential, but story is forward motion. The characters are fully realized and developed, so traipsing through familiar story-lines is okay when the world it happens in is foreign and intriguing.

I worry the film will not do well. It's a "hard-PG" and is lucky to get that. At times it is bizarre, which will alienate a good number of viewers, but for me was breath of fresh air. It is gorgeous to look at, completely charming, and its title character is "the only male on Earth with a maiden name." Truly a delight and I hope it gets its due.