User reviews

The Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year went to Rango and to be honest in this category it clearly deserves that. After The Ring and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Gore Verbinski brings us another highly entertaining movie, this time with something slightly different as it is an animated movie. The images and characters are just perfect, it's all very creative and visually stunning. As for the actors, or better the voice-overs, they were perfect in their roles. I can't see anybody narrating Rango better than Johnny Depp. The story is simple but effective, with alot of humor, maybe not for the younger kids but more for adults with a healthy imagination and that don't mind watching animation movies every now and then. Rango, a movie I will watch again in the future.

Rango manages to appeal to many interests. First of all, the recreation of the old West is charming. The animators have done a masterful job of producing a setting that really works. The chameleon star finds himself in Dirt, the aforementioned town, and is given the task of saving the water supply. Yes, it is a bit dark and the plot is sophisticated. So why so many 1's and 2's. Is it that people are so easily bored when their minds are a bit challenged by an animated film? This is one of the better films of the year and works on many levels. It also parodies tough Westerns that we have seen in contemporary times.

A good animated film, I had never seen an animated western with animals before this. Johnny Depp is fantastic as always and the rest of the cast does a good job.

Music is solid and whilst not up the standards of some older Western films like Good the bad and the ugly it's still quite good. I liked the actual cinematography of the film as well, how Rango and Beans stood out in almost every seen, compared to the drabness of the drabness of the town Rango is rather colourful.

The plot is really interesting as well, with water being used as currency and the usual corrupt rich hoarding lots of it and not distributing it fairly. I've seen better plots but it's easy for children to follow and compelling enough for adults

Action wise I thought it was average personally but a certain serpentine character was very well designed and thoroughly intimidating.

7/10: Definitely deserves a watch, especially if you're interested in classic westerns, and I think the genuinely interesting characters and animation are worth a viewing for people who like that stuff too

One of the best animated movies ever made, the trailer shows so little and I'd recommend watching it as it is absolutely outstanding. The animation work to the character development to the soundtrack are perfect in every way. Everything a animated movie should be.

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a hyper imaginative pet chameleon. When his family loses him out the back of their car, he is left to fend for himself in the middle of a desert. He escapes from a deadly hawk to find a western town called Dirt. The drought has made water incredibly valuable. Through luck and circumstances, Rango become the sheriff, but he is hopelessly clueless.

This is a very well made Nickelodeon animated movie. I wonder if this is going to be a new competitor to the animated field. The animation looks crisp and lively. The only missing element is cuter characters. Lizards are very odd for animation especially if you do it relatively realistic. But it fits very well to the setting of an old decaying western.

Rango is a very original character which actually is reminiscent of Johnny Depp's other big character Jack Sparrow. Does the fact that this is a reunion between Pirates director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp has anything to do with it? The comedy comes from a similar place, and it works well here as well.

Rango is a great kids' movie that plays on many levels, like all great kids' movies. About a hundred churchies here don't like it; that tells you it's realistic and morally complex. (One person complained about its metaphors for good and evil, because "many people take God and Satan seriously". Yeah, but we don't all think we hold a copyright on them.) And some folks helicoptered in to complain that it's violent and would scare some kids. Fifty years ago my parents took me to see Bambi and it scared me. So did Dumbo. It's vital that kids learn about fear, danger, and violence, and a cartoon is the softest place to do it. Thank God my folks understood that. For the record, Rango's violence is funny and completely unrealistic. Would it kill you to talk to your own kids about the difference between slapstick and the real world?

There are "swear words" here, if you still think "hell" and "damn" are swear words, because it's a gritty Western. (That happens to star a chameleon.) There are a lot of Hispanic references and characters, because Hispanics invented cowboys and the "American" West; Nickelodeon simply decided to unwhite-ify the Hollywood version, for a change. (The guy I read who complained about that wasn't even Hispanic. Meanwhile, I have Hispanic friends who love this movie, in part because they're in it, for once)

There are several stereotypes, ethnic and otherwise, because it's a satire. If you can't grasp irony, avoid this movie. In fact, never go outside. And several minor characters smoke. I hate smoking. But: stereotypes, remember? Westerns? Cultural memes? How about just teaching kids the difference between allegory and real life?

As for the moral content, the "lessons" of Rango, which, I think I can state without incurring a spoiler slap, are: 1. the world is a crazy place, 2. scary problems have to be solved by ordinary people, and 3. a quick wit and a lot of luck sometimes beats a quick draw and a lot of money.

If you agree with that, and aren't scared of your own shadow, see the movie. I loved it, and I'm hard to please. It's a great romp, a witty farce, and a lot of fun, precisely because Nickelodeon didn't sugar it down to pious drek.

Hilarious, surprisingly badass, and uniquely entertaining, Rango is not only a fantastic animated film, but a fantastic film itself. Johnny Depp gives a great voice performance as the titular character Rango, and even though he shines magnificently, the film also hold many fantastic voice performances from actors all around. The peculiar thing about Rango, is that it is so firmly grounded upon its own story, and not only fully embraces it, but it is fully believable, which is an insane task to feat. The film is beautifully animated, containing some of the best CGI for a film of the 2010's and beyond. It can be a wonderfully witty satire when it calls for it, and a badass western when it needs it. Rango is full of style, class, humor, rich atmosphere, and a fantastic storyline. I was entertained all the way through watching it, even when it almost clocks in at about 2 hours, and honestly will be willing to watch it again anytime. The film is written spectacularly well, and directed so as well, and is easily one of the best, if not the best, animated feature I have ever seen. My Rating: 10/10

The animated movie Rango enthralls viewers with its breathtaking sights, deft narrative, and irreverent comedy. The movie is made funnier and more charming by Johnny Depp's chameleon character. Under the direction of Industrial Light & Magic, the animation pays respect to vintage Westerns while adding a distinctive, eccentric touch. Rango is notable for its willingness to experiment with animated storytelling by fusing humor, mystery, and adventure. The film is an immersive experience that appeals to audiences of all ages because of its brilliant use of cinematography, colorful characters, and engaging plot.

I'm not exactly sure who this film was made for but I do not care one bit. This movie was a huge risk because it isn't the most hilarious movie of all time and it's not really geared towards kids. But for me this risk paid off big time. Rich themes, breathtaking animation and character design, and great voice acting to go along with it. Rango is a fantastic film and I would watch it any day of the week.

The whole movie is unnatural. There are some great parts, the voice acting is great, and the graphics are mind blowing, but it just doesn't cut it. The movie is extremely slow-paced. At times, I, and everyone else almost went to sleep. Some characters just aren't fit.

The story itself, for the most part, is not engaging, and fun. In movies like these, there should be a WOW factor present, like in Kung Fu Panda for an example, but there isn't one in Rango.

I didn't really like it. My friend was amazed.

So, it's a lot up to the viewer. It's not something that can appeal to any viewer. But, if you have time to kill, then I guess this will do just fine.

I heard from a number of people that this was excellent so I went to see it myself being a fan of animated movies and of film in general. And I absolutely loved it, other than being a little too long, which is such a minor complaint, it was a wonderful film with some surprisingly mature themes and does very well at trying something different.

The animation for starters is outstanding. Not only do the characters move convincingly, but the colours look gorgeous and the backgrounds are imaginative and stunning. The soundtrack is another plus, the score is wonderful with a sense of fun, great use of instruments and nods to Ennio Morricone, without being too generic or over-the-top with some inspired musical flavour to it.

The script is funny, smart and quirky as well- loved the Chinatown(Ned Beatty based his performance on that of John Huston's), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Star Wars references- the characters are genuine and likable with heart and don't fall into the trap of being too cliché(there are some but it works in the film's favour and I loved the title character), the film goes at a great pace while remaining wholly satisfying at its end with an almost elegiac quality that is there with almost all the best westerns, the slapstick action bounces along nicely and the story is far from formulaic instead it is original and inventive. The voice acting is wonderful, both Johnny Depp and Bill Nighy- Rattlesnake Jake is awesome!- give knockout performances, while Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Harry Dean Stanton and Abigail Breslin are equally terrific.

In conclusion, a wonderful film that I wasn't expecting to be this good this early on in the year. On a side note, for those complaining about suitability for children, I actually wouldn't say this was a film for kids but more adult-oriented. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The first half of this movie is OK. There is some action going, animation is nice, wild west rocks, you meet new characters and have high expectations. But, after a while, it all gets 100% predictable and boring. Basically, it transforms into standard: Good Hero fights his complexes to help Other Stupid Cowards and defeat Bad Hero. Children around you start crying, you yawn and fun ends. Well, there is still hope, so you are not leaving the movie room, expecting to have at least some fun. Time passes, you fight your boredom, Good Hero fights his personal problems, still no fun. You continue thinking about leaving, but curiosity wins and you decide to wait until the end in hope that, maybe, the movie will have not an ordinary ending... Nope, hope dies last and I'm glad I will not meet Rango again.

We all face an existential crisis at some time or another, just usually not when we're seven, which will likely be the mean age of children watching this newest non-Pixar non- DreamWorks animated feature. No, "Rango" won't challenge kids to contemplate their role in the cosmos, but that's precisely the predicament of its main character, a theatrical lizard who finds himself — as many animals in animated films do these days — thrust out of domestic bliss and forced to reckon with the untamed and unforgiving nature of the wild natural world. But in addition to all its verboseness and abstract homage to classic Westerns, "Rango" equally dishes out top-notch physical humor and creative characters for the young ones to lap up, even if they're not exactly of age to, as the film puts at least once, "ruminate."

We don't learn much about Rango's life as a pet lizard. In fact, his name is not even Rango; he adopts it as his identity during his adventure. We do see him create his own theatre productions with the random items in his tank and he pretends that they give him feedback and criticism. When he determines that his latest show needs some intense conflict, he finds himself flung from his tank and on the side of the dry desert road. At the advice of an old armadillo (Molina), he seeks out water and stumbles upon the town of Dirt, a classic Wild West locale full or critters and experiencing a nasty drought.

Johnny Depp quickly loses himself into Rango, a character that's somewhere between his take on Willy Wonka and his turn as Hunter S. Thompson. Depp churns out an outstanding animated protagonist, one who is equal parts boisterous and insecure. As the ultimate outsider in Dirt, our lizard hero has an epiphany: he can reinvent himself out here. He takes up his new name and makes up a fantastical tall tale and then with a pinch of luck, becomes the toast of the town and gets anointed sheriff. All seems swell, but something's up in the town with regards to the dwindling water supply and the local critters are getting restless. Rango must truly be the hero he masquerades as.

The creatures of Dirt are fascinatingly animated. They are gritty and unpleasant looking, but awing in their detail. Rango's facial expressions even out-Depp the man behind them as embodied in the scrawny asymmetrical lizard. The animators do a particularly fine job of creating the hot and dry climate of the desert, enough so to recommend that the film is best enjoyed with a beverage in hand. It's so effective that it magnifies the problematic nature of this simple predicament done hundreds of times before. Hidden underneath it all somewhere has to be an environmental message, but not an overt one and not the main lesson to learn from the story.

The language and texture of the film might be decidedly adult, but the conventions of the story and the degree of action aims specifically for children. Rather than aim for a middle ground, "Rango" somehow takes the highest road and the lowest road simultaneously. The dialogue and the situations are sophisticated but the physicality of the characters and the high-flying Western frontier action still plays to a child's understanding. This only proves that "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski has a real gift for all-ages entertainment.

In addition to Rango's existential quandary, children will not understand the cinematic homages either, particularly to spaghetti Westerns. One of the film's most affecting scenes comes at the moment when our animated hero, as they all do, hits the lowest of lows after he's exposed as a "fraud." Rango has a run-in with "The Spirit of the West," an instantly recognizable figure who has some old-fashioned advice about toughness and walking tall on the path you're given. It's a tender moment as what has been considered a bygone era of cinema plays an important thematic role in such a modern mainstream story.

"Rango" doesn't quite capture the degree of humor and emotional depth that the Pixar greats of the last few years have, but it's a fun adventure with exquisite animation, tasteful characters and a good heart, which puts it as an above-average offering compared to others of its kind. Adults will simply marvel at the intellectual boldness of this pure and simple kids movie and rightfully so. Only with a Pixar gold standard in place does "Rango" come across as flawed; otherwise it's an absolutely pleasant watch from start to finish.

~Steven C

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Worth seeing mostly for the visuals. It's awesome how bizarre these characters are. I sincerely hope they frighten children (reports from the movie's message board say that there were a lot of young children weeping when the rattlesnake character appears). Animated films are often far too cutesy, and this is a breath of fresh air in that way. The story is not especially great, but it's passable. It's a Western about a pet chameleon (voiced (kind of poorly) by Johnny Depp) who gets lost in the Mojave and ends up in a small town. After some accidental heroics, he becomes sheriff. A local lizard girl (voiced (quite well) by Isla Fisher) persuades him to look into the current drought after she finds evidence of water being dumped in the middle of the desert. If that sounds familiar, it's because that whole mystery plot is cribbed from Chinatown. That doesn't bother me at all, and the mystery is relatively complex for a kid's movie. My major complaint about Rango is that the humor very rarely works. The script is just not very funny. If it wasn't supposed to be, that would be fine, but they're clearly going for laughs (and failing).

I mean... wow.

*insert slow clap for ILM folks*

Last night my wife and I had the pleasure of checking out an early screening of Rango here in the twin cities. It was a blast! This movie was a great deal of fun. The jokes all hit the right marks, the story was solid, sweet and not too formulaic, and the visuals were outstanding.

There were times that this movie looked 100 percent photo real. outstanding job modeling and texturing and lighting on this. the little tiny attention to detail in the world you guys built had my wife and I in awe throughout most the movie. The animation was fun and eccentric. Over the top but at times subtle and felt meaningful. The only little nit pick was the mouths on some of the characters. in the attempt to make the animals look more like the animals they were representing the mouths were quite small and at times the sync was a bit odd. Though it provided for some goofy looking characters that were fun.

at just over an hour and a half, at times it felt it was a little too slow paced. well, that was my wife's critique. I looked at it more so that they were going for the slower feel of some classic westerns. I thought the long stretches of little dialog, epic music and visuals, and great cinematography worked in the films favor.

The crowd dug it too. I think the youngest person in the theater was about 6 (which i found odd for a late night screening, but whatever) and the oldest was probably in their 70's and everyone was engaged.

I was kind of surprised what they could get away with in a PG rated movie. Im no prude or anything, but there were enough adult jokes snuck in there to give me the giggle fits. Couple of lite swear words, references to more... ehem, adult type themes, but overall pretty tame and enjoyable.

Hats off. If this doesn't win awards I don't know what I believe in anymore. This is one of the more entertaining movies I have seen in a long time.

A family is crossing the desert by car with their lizard in an aquarium. The driver is forced to an abrupt movement to avoid an accident and the aquarium falls off the car on the road.

The female lizard Beans gives a ride to the lizard up to an old western town called Dirt and he goes to the bar expecting to drink water. The braggart lizard tells that he is a dangerous gunslinger called Rango and the impressed locals believe that Rango is a hero and invite him to be the sheriff.

Sooner Rango finds that water is missing in town and the Major has a suspicious behavior. But when the evil Rattlesnake Jake arrives in town, Rango assumes that he is a coward and quits his position. He walks to the road but the Spirit of the West convinces him to return and fight for those that had believed in him.

"Rango" is one of the funniest and most originals animations that I have recently seen with a parody to western movies and a tribute to Clint Eastwood, the stranger without a name, in "High Plains Drifter".

The voice and the way of speaking of Johnny Depp are also hilarious. The 2012 Oscar of Best Animated Feature Film of the Year is in good hands. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Rango"

I mean... wow.

*insert slow clap for ILM folks*

Last night my wife and I had the pleasure of checking out an early screening of Rango here in the twin cities. It was a blast! This movie was a great deal of fun. The jokes all hit the right marks, the story was solid, sweet and not too formulaic, and the visuals were outstanding.

There were times that this movie looked 100 percent photo real. outstanding job modeling and texturing and lighting on this. the little tiny attention to detail in the world you guys built had my wife and I in awe throughout most the movie. The animation was fun and eccentric. Over the top but at times subtle and felt meaningful. The only little nit pick was the mouths on some of the characters. in the attempt to make the animals look more like the animals they were representing the mouths were quite small and at times the sync was a bit odd. Though it provided for some goofy looking characters that were fun.

at just over an hour and a half, at times it felt it was a little too slow paced. well, that was my wife's critique. I looked at it more so that they were going for the slower feel of some classic westerns. I thought the long stretches of little dialog, epic music and visuals, and great cinematography worked in the films favor.

The crowd dug it too. I think the youngest person in the theater was about 6 (which i found odd for a late night screening, but whatever) and the oldest was probably in their 70's and everyone was engaged.

I was kind of surprised what they could get away with in a PG rated movie. Im no prude or anything, but there were enough adult jokes snuck in there to give me the giggle fits. Couple of lite swear words, references to more... ehem, adult type themes, but overall pretty tame and enjoyable.

Hats off. If this doesn't win awards I don't know what I believe in anymore. This is one of the more entertaining movies I have seen in a long time.

After an extremely weak first quarter in the cinematic world full of remakes, re-dos, 3-D flicks and movies about gnomes (really…really?) we finally have something fresh, original, and quite trippy to kickoff 2011. Once again reaching into his Western roots, Gore Verbinski makes up for what he did to World's End and delivers one heck of an animated film. Rango is full of surprises: surprisingly violent, surprisingly smart, surprisingly full of western references left and right, and with a surprisingly incredible western score that matches that of Ennio Morricone (never thought I'd say that). If you can muster its sluggish start, extremely fast-pace humor and rather bizarre moments throughout, then you will thoroughly enjoy Rango and its Western mayhem. And who said the Western genre is dead....

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a chameleon that after a mishap inside his tank comes across a town full of desperation and hopelessness. With a little bit of luck and a lot of lying, Rango becomes sheriff of the town but runs into a lot of trouble when the water supply hits low and tensions start rising. The storyline is nothing new, but the script (Good work John Logan) is full of fresh ideas, fun action pieces, and a great assortment of characters. In the midst of the script lie so many homages and references to classic westerns you can make up one heck of a drinking game.

A strong factor into the fun of Rango is the excellent voice acting, which rivals that of Pixar's best casting work (See: The Incredibles and Finding Nemo). Johnny Depp is phenomenal in all his crazy roles, and his performance of the hilarious Rango is nothing short of brilliant. But, let's not forget the great work of Isla Fischer (as the lead female), Bill Nighy (as the sinister Rattlesnake Jake), and the great singing of the owl mariachi (Los Lobos). And speaking of singing, let's talk about music. Hans Zimmer was robbed when Inception didn't win Original Score, but he deserves even more praise with the score here. It is an incredible mix of guitar, strings, orchestra, and nods to masterful Morricone, and is hands-down the best score since Michael Giacchino's "Up." I am strongly contemplating buying the soundtrack if it's out in stores.

The three main reasons why Rango works: Johnny Depp, Hans Zimmer, and Gore Verbinski. Very few blockbuster directors have the zaniness and range of Verbinski; as his repertoire includes Pirates of the Caribbean (epic blockbuster), The Ring (horror), The Mexican (I still don't know...) and Mousehunt (underrated dark family comedy). His talents can be shown here as he interweaves strange dream sequences with unique action sequences and plenty of hilarious moments. This movie also doesn't hold back for the kiddies, as it has the language, adult dark humor, strong themes, and heavy violence of a good-ol' western. Just picture what were to happen if Chuck Jones directed a tamed Quentin Tarantino script. And Lord knows there is not enough Chuck Jones influence in the modern animated movie world.

Bottom Line: Rango works because of its fresh originality and its refusal to follow the clichéd rules of children animated flicks. It ditched the 3-D, ditched the watered-down tone we see all too much, while we experience a very unique take on Westerns while at the same time see plenty of odes and homages to them. The zany edge of classic Warner Brothers doesn't happen enough in this millennium (With Emperor's New Groove being the outstanding example) so its great whenever we see a Chuck Jones-style of entertainment. While the movie is quite gritty for a PG flick and some of its off-color content may throw you off, I am confident when I say that Rango is the first good flick of 2011. Once again Depp, great job. Your career is astounding and even underrated in critical acclaim standards. Zimmer, I think its time to start making an Oscar dedicated to you, because that was quite a musical trip. And Verbinski, I forgive you for World's End.

I read a lot of good reviews about this movie and i went with high expectations, but i got out from the theater disappointed.

I'm no a movie critic, i'm just someone who wants to enjoy a movie. Rango, being an animated movie and with the picture showing him with one eye ball bigger than the other, gives the impression of being a funny movie. The jokes in Rango do not make the adult audience laugh, most of them are targeted for children, but ironically, this movie is not for children either, because the story is too complicated for them.

It is true that the animations are great, but we have seen this before. Great animation would be enough to make a movie if it is some new technique or technology like avatar or toy story.

In Summary, kids will not understand this movie. Adults will not find it entertaining.