{"id":2379,"date":"2013-04-25T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=2379"},"modified":"2013-04-25T16:49:31","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T16:49:31","slug":"lost-review-rango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2013\/04\/25\/lost-review-rango\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost Review: Rango"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginning in December 2005 with my history of apes in film essay \u201cGorilla of Your Dreams\u201d (the\u00a0substantially\u00a0update and\u00a0revised\u00a0version\u00a0appears in\u00a0The Apes of Wrath<\/em><\/a>), I regularly contributed to\u00a0Moving Pictures Magazine<\/em>. First in the print incarnation and then for primarily the website. I contributed reviews and essays for the last three years of the publications existence. Following the June 2011 demise of both the print and website editions, all of the digital work for\u00a0MPM<\/em>\u00a0disappeared into the ether. In the coming months (years?), I plan on reposting many of my reviews and articles.<\/p>\n

I recently re-watched Rango<\/em>\u00a0via Netflix streaming. Here’s my March 2011 review of the Oscar winner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rango<\/em><\/strong>
\nReviewed by Rick Klaw<\/strong><\/p>\n

Directed by Gore Verbinski
\nWritten by John Logan from the story by Logan, Verbinski, and James Ward Byrkit
\nStarring Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, and Ned Beatty<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a seemingly impossible bit of movie alchemy, director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End<\/em>) with the aide of Johnny Depp (The Tourist<\/em>) masterfully combines Chinatown<\/em>, Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name films, and the best of Looney Tunes into the hilarious and entertaining Rango<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Pet chameleon and struggling actor Rango (Depp) literally falls off the back of a truck, finding himself stranded in the desert. After receiving advice from Roadkill (Alfred Molina), a wise armadillo on a spiritual quest, and meeting contrary iguana Beans (Isla Fisher), who at seeming random moments enters a brief paralytic state, Rango wanders into Dirt, an outpost under the iron grip of The Mayor (Ned Beatty), a wheelchair-bound tortoise. In a desperate attempt to avoid a barroom brawl, he conjures up the role of a legendary gunman, which eventually leads to Rango assuming the mantle of the town’s sheriff (after all he claimed in descriptive and vivid detail that he killed seven dangerous critters with one bullet). The newly-minted lawmen defends Dirt against the evil Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy), a band of thieving moles, a murderous hawk, and water-stealing desperadoes.<\/p>\n

While borrowing liberally from a variety of sources, the screenplay by John Logan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street<\/em>) melds all the disparate elements into a cohesive and thoroughly original story. The magnificent ILM animation, their first animated feature, sparkles, granting each beautiful scene with lush details and the countless characterizations, a unique vision.<\/p>\n