Review: Rango

     It's fairly unusual in movies (except in spoofs) for universes to cross paths. You'll never see the Terminator in an X-Men movie, and you'll never see Steve Zissou in a Ghostbusters movie. This is unlike television where universes cross paths all the time. In fact, there's a rather interesting theory that the only moment of fictional television that actually happened is the last five minutes of the TV series “St. Elsewhere,” which reveals in the series finale that the entire show occurred in an autistic child's mind. Because “St. Elsewhere” had crossover episodes with other series, and then those series had crossover episodes with even more series and so on, the theory states that all fictional television shows occur in the autistic mind of the child at the end of “St. Elsewhere.” This includes shows as diverse as “Cheers,” “Lost,” “Friends,” “The Office (both British and American),” and even “The Simpsons.” In Rango it is revealed early on, at least to those paying close attention, that this movie occurs in the same universe, in fact in the same time period as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In fact, we even see Hunter S. Thompson and his lawyer driving their convertible to Vegas in the opening sequence of Rango, just as they do in the opening sequence of Fear and Loathing. Further driving this home is the story's setting being in the desert outside of Las Vegas and Johnny Depp playing the main character of both movies albeit as an animated chameleon in Rango.

Look familiar?

Also there's this

     However, those are the only relations the two movies share. While Fear and Loathing is a hard R comedy about a bender in Las Vegas that mentions just about every illicit drug imaginable, Rango is an animated family feature about a lost pet chameleon trying to make in the wild desert. Told in the style and aesthetic of an old western, Rango follows a pet chameleon as he is thrown from his terrarium in a car accident and thusly stranded in the desert. He encounters a host of colorful characters as he makes his way to the nearby town of Dirt as he searches for water. All is not well in Dirt. The town is experiencing a water shortage and they are being terrorized by all kinds of criminals. Taking the opportunity the chameleon tells the townfolk his name is Rango, a hard scrabble ruffian who doesn't take anything from anybody. Through a series of unlikely events, Rango becomes the new town sheriff  and takes up an investigation to get to the bottom of the town's water shortage. 

     This is a fun movie. The characters are colorful, Depp's brings a unique liveliness to Rango's dialogue that makes him a truly memorable character. It's somewhat reminiscent of Eddie Murphy's Donkey in the Shrek movies, yet far less annoying. The plot is somewhat overly complex for a kid's movie, but it is necessary to help obfuscate what is an otherwise fairly transparent conspiracy that the plot centers around. The film also contains some spectacular action scenes that take full advantage of the possibilities that animation allows that live action does not (besides having talking animals). There are a few funny moments, but nothing laugh out loud. Honestly though I find that to be a refreshing change of pace from other animated family movies. Movies shouldn't force trying to be funny if it drags the plot down with it. What we end up with is a movie that is more quirky than funny, and I think that benefits the movie by giving it a defined tone. I also give major kudos to Rango for being released in 2D. In this day and age it is a popular way for studios to try to make more money by releasing films in 3D and charging more for the tickets. This is especially true with animated movies because there is no extra cost to making it 3 dimensional in the computer as opposed to the extra cost of filming an entire movie in 3D. Rango's success (and Oscar win for Best Animated Feature) as a 2D animated feature is a strong sign that the fad of 3D movies is (thankfully) coming to an end. 

"We can't stop here, this is bat country."

Rating: 7.5/10 - Virtuous