No man can walk out on his own story (Rango 2011)

280.

Rango

7/10

Finally, I am back watching some movies and typing up so maybe a couple of people have a read. Carrying on with the Netflix A-Z and we hit Rango at R. Between some laptop issues and no spare time, it is nice to relax and watch some movies again. Rango is a movie that has never been on my radar and I'm surprised considering the cast that has been brought on board for this animation. Johnny Depp is playing Rango, who I have just witnessed sailing the seas as I made my way through the Pirates of the Caribbean movies once again. The other interesting aspect is the director Gore Verbinski who was also involved with the first three Pirates movies. Clearly, Gore and Depp enjoyed working with each other and have also brought on board Bill Nighy, who was in the swashbuckling franchise. With Isla Fisher and Ray Winstone adding some more voices, this isn't a bad line up.

We are introduced to the story by 4 singing birds, narrating our first few minutes before we then enter with Rango, who is still unnamed. Rango is in the back of a car travelling across the desert as something causes a sway and his tank flies out of the back window. This Charmeleon, which I hadn't mentioned yet, has also fancied himself as a kind of actor but now thrust into the wild, it's time to act tough.

 He meets an armadillo which has initially become roadkill but ends up being some sort of spirit guide and sends the lizard on his way. He makes his way to a town, pretending to be some sort of vigilante from the west and takes everyone by shock with his stories of killing famous outlaws. He is quickly thrust into action and takes down a bird, mainly by luck, but the population of this small town named Dirt only see success. This town has been short of water for a long time and the mayor soon makes Rango, who has now named himself after a drink company, the town's Sheriff.

 You know that this Mayor is a little dodgy, you've seen enough movies to make that assumption. We follow this journey that feels all too familiar as Rango first has success, is then challenged and outed as a fake before he meets his spirit guide once again and heads back to town to win the day. There must be around 5 or 6 movies that follow this narrative and it's always a success. This is no exception here and as the movie ends, we get the town with what it needs and more importantly, Rango has a name and a belonging. 

The cast did not fail to impress and Depp really can play every role put in front of him. The excentric figure was on show at times with the lizard's nervousness and false confidence until this then changed to a unique hero shining through and the tone of voice changing. If I hadn't read that the female lead was played by Isla Fisher, I would still not know right now. The actress played a country girl who was a far cry from anything else that I have seen her in in the past. The final cast member I would like to mention is Bill Nighy. After watching him as Davy Jones, I would have liked to have seen his character in this movie a lot more. There were little side villains that didn't last long, along with the Mayor who was our main antagonist but Nighy played a rattlesnake who was mentioned a few times in the movie before only making it in towards the end and the scenes weren't exactly the longest. A missed opportunity in my opinion. 

I'm a little disappointed in myself for leaving the viewing of this movie for so long considering it came out in 2011. It was a goofy animation with some adult undertones which makes it stand up a little higher than other animations in my opinion. With some innuendoes and even an Easter egg of another Depp's movie as he landed on the windshield of the car from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was interesting to learn that rather than recording their voices at different times and them all being added to the movie, the cast actually all came on set and voiced alongside each other. This helped with the chemistry of the cast and I suppose left some room for improvisation. This would be a movie that I would have come about when it is on TV one time and had probably no intention of investing in at that point. It was a good choice to add to the list as it was quite an enjoyable watch.