An underrated classic! Rango Review!

Let me tell you all a story. A long time ago, longer now than it seems, there was a place you've perhaps seen in your dreams. An array of legends were foretold, about a Nickelodeon animated film of old. And a grocery-shopping nerd took a glance, and found, amongst a bin of bad movies, a Western flick of years long past. So he dropped five dollars, on a movie most forgot. And now he writes a retrospective review, so the film can be saved from it's rot.

Yes, I'm reviewing Rango, an animated Western-comedy published by, of all companies, Nickelodeon, and directed by Gore Verbinski, who is most well-known for directing the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films. This film was a crucial part of my childhood, as 11-year-old Spencer absolutely loved cowboys and creepy character designs, so this film was a match made in heaven for me. After doing a bit of research, it turned out that this film got review-bombed hard when it released. Not because it was a bad film, in fact the people who actually gave it a chance agreed it was fantastic, but because of angry parents who were turned off by how not-family friendly this film is. Seriously, between the profanity, alcohol, smoking, surprisingly realistic guns, and overall weirdness, it's a miracle this film got a PG rating. But then again, anyone with ten brain cells knows that the MPAA are incompetent and their ratings are rarely accurate. Given our society's track record, it's safe to say that the MPAA just assumed this was a kids' film because it was animated and gave it a PG rating without doing any research on it. Because even to this day, we have plenty of idiots who think that animated films are always "for kiddies". Which leads to disappointment-induced anger as Mommy and Daddy have to turn the movie off because the main hero said a bad word and their kid is too young to understand what swears are. In a way, it's in the same boat as 9, another film mistaken for "a kiddie film" when it was intended for older audiences. Only Rango has it worse because at least 9 has a PG-13 rating (one of the few times where the MPAA did their job correctly), so the parents who ACTUALLY PAID ATTENTION TO THE RATING would know not to bring their toddlers. But seriously, for older readers, go watch 9. It's a creepy, depressing film about the hubris of humanity and how our choices will affect the world for generations to come, and I love it. 

Anyway, what is Rango actually about? It's about a nameless pet chameleon (voiced by none other than Johnny Depp himself) who considers himself a great actor, but deep down is not only terribly lonely, but has a severe identity crisis. One day, the terrarium he was living in gets knocked out of a car, stranding him in the middle of the desert. Then, an elderly armadillo with a Spanish accent gives Rango directions to a Wild West-style town called Dirt. Not wanting to die in the middle of no-man's land, the chameleon makes haste to arrive at the closest thing the animals of this universe have to civilization.

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!!!"

There, he adopts the name "Rango"  (getting the idea for the name from a bottle of whiskey) and uses his acting skills to pass himself off as a charismatic bad boy gunslinger. Unfortunately, Rango's boasting about his impossible aim and impeccably good luck attracts the attention of a gang of outlaws, who challenge Rango to a high-noon showdown, which spirals out of control when Rango is attacked by a giant (to him, anyway) hawk. Rango manages to kill the hawk accidently, which makes the townsfolk believe his facade even more. Soon he is appointed Sheriff of Dirt, and gets up to classic Western shenanigans, such as chasing down bank robbers or matching wits with a corrupt mayor.

The story isn't too amazing. Anyone who has watched a Western film will see all of the major plot points coming a mile away. Though given that the whole film is a walking homage to the genre, so much that they manage to include a reference to every single Clint Eastwood film ever made (including a cameo from Clint Eastwood himself!), that is to be expected. So don't go in expecting a Shakespearean epoch. That said, there's a certain charm to not just this film, but Westerns in general that I find appealing. Could it be that as an American I'm biased towards films depicting a stylized version of real-life 1800's North America? Possibly.

The film mostly focuses on Rango himself, as well as his love interest, Beans. And I like these two characters a lot. Their designs are distinct and memorable, and Rango's larger-than-life boasts and theatrical mannerisms and Beans' temper and spunkiness play off each other really well. Rango's character development is also enjoyable, since he goes from a clumsy coward with good acting skills to a genuinely cool legendary gunslinger almost on par with The Man with no Name. It's really neat seeing how Rango gradually becomes the very hero he pretends to be.

The film also has a surprisingly large supporting cast, and though most of them are there for comic-relief, I LOVE the character designs. You got a snarky aye-aye kid (pictured above), a bearded dragon whose eyes are perpetually bloodshot (as well as missing a few teeth), a Native American crow, some kind of mouse whose beard is so long it drags along the ground, a French fox lady, a wheel-chair-bound tortoise whose shell is built INTO the wheelchair, a bird with an arrow stuck in his eye, and more. Unlike a lot of animated films, which are bright and colorful, Rango is bleak and more subdued in it's choice of color. And the characters are just as gritty as the world around them, and I can respect that.

The film's comedy aspects are just as unorthodox as it's character designs. Most of the humor is dark in nature, with the film being narrated by mariachi burrowing owls who keep insisting that Rango WILL die by the end of the adventure (spoiler alert, he doesn't), to the citizens of Dirt making increasingly over-the-top death threats to one another (I fondly remember the line "Don't show yer face 'round here ever again, or I'll chop it off an' use it to wipe my unmentionables!"). Also, there's some blink-and-you'll-miss-it gags on the tombstones, like "Sheriff Amos. Thursday-Saturday" and "Oops." There's some more light hearted jokes as well, such as Rango and his posse pretending to be travelling thespians performing a play so they can confuse the aforementioned bank robbers. It even has Rango putting on a dress and pretending to be a woman. It gets funnier when you realize that unlike a lot of animated films, where the voice actors just say their lines in a recording booth, the voice actors for Rango actually acted out all their scenes in live action (this was done so that the character's mannerisms and voices sounded more genuine) which means at one point Johnny Depp was prancing around, pretending to be a chameleon wearing a dress, and that by itself is a hilarious mental image. I don't know why but the play scene is one of my favorite moments from the entire film.

The Native American crow, whose name is apparently Wounded Bird,
is my favorite supporting character.

The pacing of the film can be a little slow, since the plot doesn't really pick up until after Rango adopts the "legendary gunslinger" persona, and much of the film is just seeing how Rango interacts with other denizens of Dirt, but once the Bank gets robbed, it picks up faster. Not too fast, mind you, because this film is kind of a slow burn. It's by no means boring (at least to me) because one of the main selling points of the film is seeing how Rango adapts to his new lifestyle. Oh, and side note, you know how it's a major plot point that the Bank gets robbed? In this universe the animals use water as a currency. In real life, water is the single most valuable resource, and desert-dwelling creatures are more likely to die of thirst than anything else, and I think that the animals using water as a currency was a clever way to reflect this while still keeping them anthropomorphic. 

But now let's talk about one of my favorite things about this film, it's main antagonist. Rattlesnake Jake. He's a rattlesnake voiced by Bill Nighy. His rattle got replaced with a gatling gun. And he's become feared throughout the West as some kind of cowboy Grim Reaper. Unlike Rango's empty boasts, Rattlesnake Jake is the real deal, and is everything Rango ever dreamed of being (famous, respected, legendary, and popular), but twisted into an evil reflection. And yet, despite his wickedness, Rattlesnake Jake does have some moral standards, verbally tearing Rango apart when it's inevitably revealed he was lying about his "heroic" deeds the whole time, and the way he does so seems to imply he has no patience for those who lie and manipulate others for self-benefit. And later, when Jake sees that Rango did indeed manage to defeat not just him, but the corrupt mayor's entire gang using exactly one bullet, his initial reaction is not one of anger or confusion, but respect, and he personally kills the mayor because even Jake was disgusted by the mayor's actions, all while delivering the single greatest ironic echo in cinema history ("What was it you said? No one will believe you even existed...?"). Also, the coloring of his eyes (red sclera, yellow irises, black pupils) looks eerily similar to the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. I don't know if the reference was intentional or a stylistic choice to make him more intimidating, but either way, I thought that was neat. Oh, and Rattlesnake Jake is one of most well-animated snakes I've ever seen in cinematography. From his surprisingly realistic zigzag slithering, to the overlapping scales, to how his fangs fold back and lay parallel to the roof of his mouth while he talks and then extend out fully when he hisses (because it is way too common to see venomous snakes in animation have their fangs fully extended at all times, making them look more like saber-toothed cats rather than snakes), simply watching Rattlesnake jake is a treat for animation nerds like myself. 

As for presentation, Rango is significantly grittier than other animated films. But Rango is a film that strikes a good balance between realism and surrealism, going from relatively down-to-Earth one moment and then switching to a full blown fever dream the next. The surreal aspects don't show up that often in the film itself, but they are a terrifically trippy treat nonetheless. As previously stated, the character designs are top-notch, striking a good balance between being grotesque and cute. Unlike a lot of animated films, which wind up dipping into the dreaded Uncanny Valley for trying to make the characters too realistic, Rango seemingly embraces it with open arms. The set pieces are also pretty good, though there is not much variety. But then again, seeing as how the film takes place in a desert, the lack of variety in it's environments is mostly understandable. Of course, it's possible to have lots of variety with your setpieces and still take place in the desert. It's just harder, because deserts as a whole are usually pretty barren and don't have much to see.

Anyway, this film's soundtrack is AMAZING. It's music is (not unlike West of Loathing) full of everything you need for a good Western score, such as banjos, electric guitars, and a sort of whimsical charm that contrasts nicely with photo realistic artstyle. But the best thing about the soundtrack? We get a banjo-centric remix/cover... Of Ride of the Valkyries. It's just as absurd as it sounds, and I love it (it helps that it plays when Rango and his friends are confronting the bank robbers, which is my favorite scene from the whole film). The voice acting is also solid. Johnny Depp does a good job as Rango himself, and for all the people who complain that every time Johnny Depp does acting his character is shameless rip-off of Jack Sparrow, Rango is nothing like Jack Sparrow. The only thing the two have in common is that the animation team openly admitted to basing Rango's run cycle off of Jack's run cycle. But Bill Nighy steals the show as Rattlesnake Jake, who manages to make Jake sound like he's oozing with a burning fury with almost every line. Anyway, the other voice actors are alright. Just about every denizen of Dirt has a very strong Western accent (except for, oddly enough, the mayor), so for people unaccustomed to that style of speech I could see it would be hard to understand what the characters are saying. But aside from that, I enjoyed the voice acting.

Overall, Rango was a film that deserved better. It's a well-crafted love letter to the Western Genre, that was doomed to fail because of conservative parents flooding the Internet with 1 Star (or 1/10, depending on the website) reviews, which wouldn't have happened (or, at the very least, would've reduced the review-bombing) had the MPAA done their job correctly. But is this film worth seeing? Yes. Just make sure if you plan to watch it for family movie night your kids are 13 years or older (or, at the very least, understands the concept of swearing). That being said, I give Rango 9 impossibly lucky reptiles out of 10.