Oh my gosh, how I enjoyed this movie. In a lot of ways it reminded me of how I felt coming out of Wall-e or Up. Just an all together fantastically made, highly enjoyable, makes-you-feel-good-about-life movie. I also happened to see it over my town's Spring Break, so even though it was a mid-afternoon showing on a week day the theatre was filled with all manner of patrons who were equally enthusiastic about the movie.I had my doubts about Johnny Depp as a voice actor, not going to lie, but he really embodied the spirit of his little chameleon and I found myself really enjoying Rango's long soliloquies on how he was a rough-and-tumble-western-badass-turned-good-guy-sheriff.
In fact, all the voice talent in this film is fantastic. The only one I couldn't nail was Ned Beatty, who plays the mayor of Dirt. (Yes, DIRT.) Ray Winstone is in there as the town baddie, Bill Nighy is fantastic as the outlaw Rattlesnake Jake (his allegedly non-British "southern" voice is hilarious and awesome) and guess what kind of an animal he is?! Abigail Breslin and Isla Fisher are lovely as feisty town girl Priscilla and Rango's love interest Beans, respectively. Claudia Black as Angelique was brilliant, but the best cameo of the whole freaking movie was Timothy Olyphant as "The Spirit of the West". There are not words for how inspired that character is. I punched Mike in the arm and went "Timothy Olyphant!" in the theater in a harsh whisper and he looked at me like I was nuts. (Good times.)
Basically, Rango starts out the movie as a pet on a Southwest journey with his family. And, Rango thinks himself a thespian. The film's opening scene is nothing if not fantastic. Not only does it set the bar supremely high for the rest of the film's animation, but it sets the tone for who Rango is and what he really wants most, which is a simple "human" desire at it's core-much like Wall-E (to be loved and be in love) and Up (to learn how to live again after a loss)-Rango wants friends. He wants a family. He wants to be appreciated...Rango wants to belong and be the hero of his own tale. That sentiment in itself is what endears me most to the film and Rango. I mean, don't we all? We just want a place to feel at home and feel like someone loves us and looks up to us. That simple honest yearning is what gives the film it's heart and soul.
The conflict of the film revolves around Dirt's water problem. The town bank doesn't lock up money, but water, which is a visually arresting thing when you see the bank in the film. Not to mention, since Dirt is a desert town, it's fucking brilliant while being completely fucking practical. I LOVE animated movies these days for that reason. It brings the funny for the kids (fire-breath burp jokes, cactus juice as alcohol, characters named after food, a chameleon wearing long-johns), but it also has this completely adult plot line that is simple enough for children to follow, yet complicated enough for their parents to grasp and appreciate the film on a different level.
Naturally, Dirt loses its water and people are being forced to close shop and move, and Rango (aided by his vast theatrical imagination and a LOT of dumb luck) seeks to save Dirt and expose the evil doers (cough LAS VEGAS! cough) to get the town's water back. There is, of course, a villain closer to home than just Vegas, but remember who I said played the town's mayor? I'm pretty sure if I knew that going in I would have known from the first frame what was up.
Upon entering the Dirt watering hole, Rango decides to tell a magnificently tall tale and fashion himself a six-shooting dispatcher of bad-guys. All of Dirt thinks he fought off Rattlesnake Jake and his cronies with one bullet and thinks he's a hero, so they make him their sheriff and for a while, things go alright. But once the bank's water gets stolen and Rango leads an adventurous-albeit failed- rescue attempt he ends up being exposed as a liar to the whole town and cast out by the mayor and Rattlesnake Jake himself. At this point, he ventures back into the desert to find his way back to the road and civilization. Nearly at the end of his rope, delirious, depressed and nearly dead Rango finally meets who he's wanted to meet his whole life. His DESTINY, conveniently packaged in the shape of "The Spirit of the West" who is the most creative homage to the Westerner of all Westerners, Clint Eastwood himself. Olyphant, while not quite Eastwood, does a massively good Eastwood impression and Rango finally knows what he must do and treks to "the source" of the water to make one last effort to save his own life just by believing in himself.
I really, REALLY enjoyed being in the audience for this movie. It was fun, it was moving, and it was fucking incredible to look at. There were moments when the scene encompassed the landscape of the desert or the sky and dude, I'm telling you if I hadn't known it was animation, I would have assumed it was real. The amount of animation detail (and not just visually) this movie has is just unfathomable. This is the kind of movie that reminds you-if you need reminding-of why you love movies. It's the little things, the moments where you go "Jesus, that was great that they thought of that!" that make you love it. And I love the imagination behind this film too, it's just so unique yet it's such a basic and simple story that we've all heard a million times yet it doesn't feel stale or old at all.
Rango is fresh, hilarious, fun, relatable, gorgeous and does a pretty convincing job of showing that we probably all have a little of that ballsy chameleon in our souls. We tip our caps to you, Rango.
