Rango (2011)

Rango (2011), directed by Gore Verbinski, 4 stars

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

-- Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces

As complacent as any character at the start of a Hitchcock film, our protagonist, an excessively histrionic, windmill-tilting lizard undergoing a major identity crisis, realizes that what is lacking in his undeveloped life is conflict arising out of an unexpected turn of events.  Immediately, this missing piece presents itself.  An oncoming truck causes the car in which he is being conveyed to swerve suddenly, ejecting him and his idyllic aquarium from the vehicle.  To the melody of “Ave Maria” he rises In slow motion, only to fall with a crash and slide on a piece of glass until finally coming to a rest on the blacktop.  His umbrella bursts into flames and the water in the aquarium evaporates immediately under the scorching heat of the sun.  He is alone.  The adventure begins.

I was not expecting to like “Rango” nearly as much as I did.  I saw trailers for the film at the time of its theatrical release and, despite the presence of Johnny Depp, the whole thing looked pretty silly and self-indulgent to me. Well, I was wrong, at least in part.  The film is indeed silly, but it's also very smart. Johnny Depp’s acting has always been of the highest caliber, and he has once again put his heart and soul into the character of “Rango.”  Visual consultant, Roger Deakins, known best (at least to me) for his long association with the Coen Brothers, no doubt contributed to the film’s rich texture and lighting, as he did earlier on “How to Tame Your Dragon.”  The dialogue and accompanying soundtrack are witty and draw shamelessly and with true affection from earlier Westerns (“High Noon” the films of Sergio Leone spring immediately to mind) and other genres.  (There are inspired homages to such films as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Star Wars,” and “Apocalypse Now” just to name a few.)  A gloom and doom Greek chorus of mariachi performers composed of four owls attempt to but never quite accurately anticipate Rango’s fate.  However, a Sancho Panza-like armadillo gets it right.  We are nothing without enlightenment, he tells Rango, who is too angry at the time to pay heed to the armadillo’s aphorism.  It takes a while, but Rango eventually comes around.


The folks at Industrial Light and Magic together with seasoned director Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of the Carribean") have produced a real treat: lots of good clean (and, yes, very silly) fun for the kids and a refreshingly clever screenplay for adults.  Both a hit and a myth!