Movie Review: Rango

I know, I know. Two reviews in one day?! I'm on a roll here.

The facts
Director: Gore Verbinski

Writers: John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Ward Byrkit
Stars: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin and Timothy Olyphant
Release Date: March 4, 2011

The summary
A pet chameleon ends up in the middle of the desert by accident (literally! The car almost ran head-on into another car going in the opposite direction). There in the "Wild West," he finds the town of Dirt where the people have lost hope. He becomes "Rango" and attempts to save this dried up, hopeless town.

The verdict
Okay, so I love Johnny Depp. My best friend and I decided to go see this movie because of Johnny Depp. When the movie ended and the credits started rolling, we looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Well. That was interesting."

Okay, let's go through the positives first. Johnny Depp, of course. Even though it was just his voice, it still counts. Also, animation and the world that was created was really interesting. How they personified different desert creatures was pretty neat -- like the "outlaws" were groundhogs (or maybe those were prairie dogs) that dug around, looking for ways to break into the bank. The crooked mayor was an ancient tortoise in a wheelchair. The town of Dirt was made up of human trash -- a port-a-pot was an old Pepto Bismol bottle. Old milk cartons and rusty bicycle chains were also part of the landscape. Water was their money, so a large water cooler was housed in the vault in the bank.

And that's kind of where the positives end. In general, the movie was just...well...weird. I love Johnny Depp to pieces, and this movie is certainly a project that Johnny Depp would take on. But. It's weird. Like, really weird. And I'm not entirely sure I would call it a kid's movie. The whole tone of the movie was kind of on the dark side. For example, the movie begins with three owls dressed in sombreros, singing about the hero's demise and certain death. And some of the characters were a little grotesque -- one had an arrow going through its eye. And some of the subject material brought up was kind of gross too. Lots of bodily functions. I guess that's what kids find funny these days. I would have been freaked out by the arrow and grossed out by the bodily functions if I were a kid. Actually, I was freaked out by the arrow and grossed out by the bodily functions.

Now that I sound like a old lady, I'll get on to my next point about this movie. Actually, this is going back to the positives. The message in the movie seemed to be understanding who you are. In the beginning, Rango didn't really know who he was. He didn't really have much purpose in life. His only friends were a plastic fish, the torso of a Barbie doll and a palm tree. And a dead cricket-coakroach-insect thing. Once Rango got out into the world, he found his purpose. He found out who he was. Rango had the ability to be a hero, despite his seeming inadequacy. He made friends, he found his place and purpose in life.

Though I don't feel as though I wasted my money, I would recommend to wait until this goes on DVD. Then Netflix it. Or Red Box it.

Grade: C