Rango

Rango is more about episodic gems than about its story. But these gems are an avalanche of fresh ideas, paying homage to famous westerns, Robert Rodriguez movies and even Pulp Fiction. The characters of bearded lizard hombres spitting in the dust who are rendered more vividly and with greater attention to detail than Clu in Tron: Legacy are a true feast for the eyes of genre enthusiasts. Hans Zimmer’s post-Sherlock music laced with Mexican motifs spices up the comical episodes and boosts the action ones that are shot and edited better than anything you’ve seen in the best action flicks. And there are significantly more jokes aimed at adults than at kids. (08.03.2011)

Animation, western and Johnny Depp voicing the main character, three reasons why the bookies expected that I wouldn’t like Rango. They were terribly mistaken. (08.06.2011)

The film features excellent individual elements that stand out on their own (Clint), underlined by spectacular visuals (Deakins), playful music, and a horde of allusions, quotes, and parodies. Unfortunately, the result of the aforementioned is a rather incoherent patchwork, whose issue is not so much that it dabbles in multiple genres, but rather that it lacks the real wit that might have brought (paradoxically!) a bit of childishness in Verbinski's writing, the absence of which, on the other hand, I can quite understand after the Pirates trilogy. (03.08.2011)

Typical Verbinski. The ideas are pressurized to burst, in a matter of minutes it's able to pulverize Leone, Coppola and Bay together, and it just burps lightly. It's much more functional as a Western ensemble than as a film. The scattering of the individual parts is even surreally generous, so the resulting impression is somewhat restless. With the addition of Czech dubbing, I will have to take away the fifth star, which does not change the fact that it is probably the animated highlight of the season. (01.03.2011)

For the passage where this was a not holds barred spaghetti western that in each camera angle and every tone nods to its roots, Verbinski can dig Leone up from his grave and shake him be the hand as equals. The only snag is that this constantly oscillates between surrealist animated adventure for adults, packed full of references to movies that are rarely nodded at (kicking off right at the beginning with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, for instance), through ingenious, slapstick inspired situations in Pirates of the Caribbean style, to spaghetti western. And all of these passages separately are gems, but they don’t work together, getting in the way of each other, because each of these approaches alone are enough make (and deserve) a feature length movie of their own. So on one hand it resuscitates several dying genres (not just western or surrealist, but also intelligent, non-ridiculing parodies or pastiches and CGI animation works as such), on the other it rather wastes the potential. And you must watch it in the English language version, not so much for Depp as for Nighy and Olyphant, and the Czech subtitles are playful and inventive (although very loose) for a change OST score: 5/5 (11.03.2011)

After Wes Anderson did it, another live-action film director whom at first glance one wouldn’t expect to take such a step entered the field of animation and showed us how tedious all of those industrial animated movies from DreamWorks, Pixar and other specialised studios really are. On the other hand, as a creator of films with a strong presence of computer-generated effects, characters and even entire sequences, Verbinski’s work actually has something in common with animation, and his original project, in which after a long time he doesn’t have Disney’s Agent Smith breathing down his neck, but is rather nudged by the creative maniacs from Nickelodeon Movies, will allow viewers to see the extent of his creative distinctiveness. What Rango has in common with the Fantastic Mr. Fox is overarching exaggeration and self-reflection of genre formulas, as well as visual stylisation that shuns the simple shapes and multifarious colours that are typical of the competition. Specifically, though we have computer animation here, the stylisation leans towards a coarse hyper-realism with an abundance of the grotesque and deranged carnivalesque details of Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Most of the characters have their own distinct personalities, which are incorporated into the smallest details of their movements, while on a general level the design of the Wild West animal characters looks more like a collection of discarded exhibits from a school biology classroom than vibrant photos in the style of National Geographic (see, for example, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole). In addition to the visuals, however, Rango has an unexpected ace up its sleeve in the form of an overarching meta-genre self-reflection that makes the film a spectacle that parents are more likely to make their kids go to see rather than being forced to do so by their kids. With its dialogue working on multiple levels and relating to the nature of heroism, the role of particular narrative tropes and the heroes’ bond with their stories, it is a caustic reflection on how animated films are, paradoxically and essentially against their intrinsic nature, constrained by their aspiration to be like live-action films, or rather how they are hindered by the fact that audiences now automatically expect them to resemble live-action films. The fact that intellectual mischief dressed up as a dusty and rough-around-the-edges western won the Oscar for best animated film is actually the fulfilment of another formula – the outsider reaches a happy ending and is accepted into mainstream society. (07.05.2014)

Too bad I didn't see the film in the original language! Otherwise, of course, the animated fantastical West! Overall it was conceived in a nicely normal way... almost makes me wonder how a child viewer can "chew on" this. And even though perfect animation is nothing exceptional nowadays, here I am truly impressed... and that music... hmmmm. A new take on the animated film. (21.03.2011)

It is my bitter fate to stay grounded and describe soberly what is wrong with the film, while others indulge in a flood of stars and use only superlatives in their reviews. However, I will start with some praise – visually, it is well-crafted, with excellent animation, and fans of the western genre will especially appreciate the game played with the viewer, as the script pays homage to all the important films and genre clichés of classic westerns and their modern variations. Some scenes are really great, like the battle over the water tank, which speeds up the pace by several notches, and the characters face an aerial attack by a squadron of bats armed with machine guns – a treat for action genre enthusiasts. However, I had a big problem with the uneven pace of this film, at certain moments it became quite tedious, which is related to the second problem: due to the numerous references to classic films and emotionally charged scenes, it lacks a cohesive storyline to a considerable extent. It is simply the kind of film where I appreciate many individual aspects, but overall it feels unfinished considering the expectations. Giving it less than 3 stars would be unfair considering its excellent ingredients, but my overall feeling is ambivalence, and I give it an overall impression of 60%. It is truly an animated film that older viewers will appreciate. My two children were bored at times. The more familiar you are with the references, the higher the chances that the film will resonate with you. Otherwise, I can understand the five-star ratings, although I do not share the same enthusiasm, as I feel that it all falls apart. (13.03.2011)

An unusual animated film that is excellent despite or maybe precisely because of its unusualness. Maybe even this year’s best, since the Pixar movies bombed out. Verbinski professes his love for westerns and does it in style. The animation is on a high level and some (sunset) shots are feasts for the eyes. The babbling Johnny Depp plays a conflicted hero who is searching for himself with such vigor that sometimes you forget he's a chameleon. With dubbing, the quality necessarily declines. He’s simply inimitable. There are also amazing dream sequences... and The Spirit of the West! When it comes to music, Hans Zimmer quotes and quotes a lot: Ennio, Misirlou, and we even get to hear “Valkyries Riding into Battle" arranged for banjo. Mr. Timms? (30.06.2011)

If the Spirit of the West spoke in the voice of the real Spirit of the West, Rango would be lacking absolutely nothing. The biggest advantage of this (mostly) adult cartoon is its director. Gore Verbinski has a habit of throwing ideas around and impressing with action scenes, but not forgetting to have a well-constructed story, humor and character portrayal. And just like in (especially the second) Pirates of the Caribbean, he succeeds here. In addition, the ILM computers turned out flawless, perhaps 99% realistic animation, Hans Zimmer wrote his best music since Sherlock Holmes, and each of the actors who dubbed the lizards, rodents, birds and others clearly had a great time doing it. Just like me. (19.06.2011)

The film gets off to a great start, the action scenes are witty and brisk, and Zimmer's great music works wonders. I found the main idea and especially its development rather weak and far from fulfilling my expectations, but the pace is quite high, the director successfully and originally gives us a taste of several different genres, and the main character himself wins your sympathy from the beginning and becomes incredibly entertaining with his immediacy and a reasonable amount of goofiness. My only real regret is the boring and clichéd ending, where the screenwriter either didn't know what to do anymore, or tried to make Rango into something more than just a throwaway kids' show. As an animated flick, it’s above average, but as an adventure comedy, it will soon fade from my memory. 3.5* (27.07.2011)

An ambitious attempt at the ultimate cartoon, with a ruthless internal war raging throughout the running time. The war of a sophisticated reference film that will have critics stroking its cheek and whispering sweet nothings into its ear, with a spectacle for children of all categories, where the heroes' pants are falling down and there’s a lot of shouting and gesticulating. The already awful trailer is designed for the 8- age category, counting on the critic community to go to see the film out of obligation, thus reviews are assured and the kids will shout their parents down, with the latter more compliant than usual to attend because Time wrote that they'll really like it. Except I guess to say that no one thought of Rango as a family film until the end, the references are too detailed for that, the character speech absolutely adult, and the plot too depressing. Not to mention that in this cartoon the characters die instead of mending their ways or taking a break by the end of the film. But even the scouts at school can tell you how much they liked a particular film, not to mention that a good portion of them hang out on discussion boards and social media, where they try to mask their baby teeth with nicknames like LadyKilla18 or TheMaker or LIVINGDEAD. Of course, this was taken into account during production, and I believe that for every scene, something like "(and the chameleon does something stupid there)" was written in parentheses in the script, which offends my intellectual ego, which is otherwise proud enough to be offended by something. However, for all the anachronistic nature of the subject matter, one of Rango's points is actually famously contemporary: in a world of truth, the liar is king. Because the main character doesn't turn into a real hero, just adapts his acting to the right movie to make him a hero. And don't think he's doing it for himself, you too would surely rather swim at the beach than go off into some stupid sunset where there's nothing to do. Besides, what kind of bullshit is it to set off on a trip in the evening anyway? (15.07.2013)

I remember liking this animated film the first time I saw it, so I gave it another watch to see if I would feel differently about it today. It turns out that nothing has changed. The film has all the makings of a western: good and evil are clearly divided so the ending is clear from the start, but that just goes with the genre (for the most part). The characters were colorful, and the animation was awesome. I just wish the Wounded Bird had more screen time because each of his lines was perfect. This brings me to the main reason why I had so much fun - the humor. The film had more than a few great lines, there were many classic wild west effects, and when Richard Wagner and Johann Strauss Jr.’s music came on during one of the main fight sequences, it was simply perfection. For me, it was a great combination of cartoon, western and comedy and I had absolutely no desire to edit my original rating. / Lesson learned: "Bird dead. Snake come." I couldn't think of anything better; this line is perfect. (03.09.2022)

To say that I am completely excited about this animation, not really. I liked how it was conceived as a western, sometimes it was truly a classic western, sometimes it was spaghetti. However, the story didn't really grab me in the end. A chameleon as the main character is definitely a good idea, but I wasn't blown away. It's a slightly different animation that will definitely intrigue. (03.03.2014)