Rango (2011)

No thread for the lizard with the identity crisis? Bah, humbug!

Trailer and trailer and clip.

It's got a great director--Gore Verbinski--a great cast--Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina, Ray Winstone, Isla Fisher, and Bill Nighy--and ILM's doing the animation. It's also narrated by a group of mariachi owls who take the place of a Greek chorus. It's not in 3D. It's being picked on because some people say that the language, smoking, and thematic elements are a bit much for a PG film. It's coming out this Friday, March 4th.

I'm there. Anybody else share my enthusiasm?

 

I'm intrigued. The animation looks hugely impressive. John Logan is a hit-and-miss writer, though.

Gore Verbinski is a long way from being a great director, but he does have some idea of spectacle, and knows how to put his budget on the screen wholesale.

The cynic in me thinks that Verbinski, like several other live-action directors, wants to take the short-track to Oscar gold by doing an animated film. So be it; it's a good year to try when Pixar is going with Cars 2.

I'll probably be seeing it. Going to take a look at a few of the Verbinski films I've missed first.

 

It looks amusing but Gore Verbinski, Great Director?

 

Yeah, I don't think he's quite great yet. The Ring was enterprisingly good, as was Pirates of the Caribbean, but I feel like he lost control of the sequels a bit, and his others movies don't exactly seem to have blown critics or audiences away.

 

The first POTC was too long, and the second had completely extraneous scenes and the third was...long.

 

Well, I tend to disagree with the critics and the audience about what makes a "great" director, but yeah. I think he's pretty great.

 

I watched it and I liked it. It's pretty fresh for an animated feature, and the voice cast is terrific. There's a character there (I won't give it away) that you wish could have been voiced by Clint Eastwood - it was voiced by someone else, instead, and actually isn't a bad homage/imitation. Of course most young kids won't get all the references to the great classic westerns, especially Leone's spaghetti westerns, but they'll have fun I think.

 

It was amazing, and it far exceeded my lofty expectations. I saw a little Pirates in there when the bugs were transporting Rango across the white, flat plain that looked like Davy Jones's Locker. Excellent voice acting, excellent story, excellent animation, and excellent music. Perfect in every way.

 

I'm intrigued by all of the great reviews, but much of the praise seems to stem from how cleverly this nods to classic westerns. I've never seen a single western...does this still have "adult" appeal outside of that?

 

If you've seen Star Wars, you've seen a Western.

 

It probably helps a bit if you're a Clint Eastwood fan...

 

Same here.

 

Apparently some anti-smoking crusaders are coughing up a fit over Rango.

Rango Smokin' Controversy

 

Johnny's been in quite a few movies with smoking animals lately.

 

Curiously, another animated film "Mars Needs Moms" was a dud.

 

Has anyone ever said, "Curiously, another live-action drama "film title" was a dud?"

Seriously. One of them is from a popular director, with an A-list star, gorgeous visuals, and a moderately clever trailer. The other is from the director of The Time Machine, featuring Zemeckis uncanny valley visuals, starring Seth Green and Joan Cusack, and a bad trailer. Why is it curious that the former put more butts in seats?