Nickelodeon’s new computerized cartoon-western extravaganza Rango is one of the few children’s movies that successfully makes you want to be a kid again.
The film follows in the footsteps of many of the best so-called children’s movies in recent memory, Pixar’s Up being its closest contemporary in spirit. Rango, however, takes the “adult movies made for kids” genre to a whole other level — don’t expect kids to understand three-quarters of what goes on in this film.
This is exactly why Rango becomes a movie that will make parents wish they still had the boundless imagination and blissful ignorance of their children. For university students, watching an old episode of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats series will cause a similar reaction (seriously, there’s a lot of stuff you missed in grade school).
Rango tracks the bizarre adventures of the chameleon title character (Johnny Depp, The Tourist), who is not named Rango before the plot begins and seemingly has no identity at all. He is trapped in a poorly cobbled together terrarium, acting out his dreams of being a performer, which, in many ways, seems to mirror popular characterizations of Depp himself.
After being jettisoned from a car, the as-of-yet nameless hero begins his quest for identity in the desert. The movie reaches its peak of strangeness right from the get-go, rarely letting up on its head-scratching yet hilarious philosophical quandaries.
Using a classic plot device, Rango becomes the sheriff of an Old West-style town, giving the film its spaghetti Western accents. From here, the movie evolves into a delightful action adventure which features mostly predictable plot twists, yet highly original jokes and actions scenes to keep even the most jaded viewer interested.
After viewing Rango, many will wish they had the childhood luxury of returning to this beautifully animated and well-paced adventure film 15 years later and be able to newly recognize all the diverse, disturbing elements that populate the animated animal world: a rabbit who is an alcoholic; the town doctor’s (Stephen Root, Cedar Rapids) starvation-induced hallucinogenic dreams; Clint Eastwood as voiced by Timothy Olyphant (I Am Number Four); and assorted harlots and jezebels.
The movie is rife with both concrete and metaphorical comments on the power of religious leaders to create a belief system to control the masses and philosophical battles over the concept of what it means to be someone. The film even has an early cameo by Raoul Duke, of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, likely voiced by but not credited to Depp, who played him in the original film.
All the adult themes are great, but this is a kids’ movie, and those adult themes don’t always make something exciting. But Rango pays off on all fronts.
For starters, the computer-generated animation in this film is incredible — a mixture of Pixar’s comic curves with real-world textures makes this film a unique onscreen beauty. This is particularly relevant on the big screen, where closeups of characters’ faces seem almost too real to be animated. Some of the landmasses have photo-realistic qualities that are quite striking.
On top of that, the voice acting crafts a near-perfect match between the environments and writing. The acting caliber is high — Depp, Ned Beatty (Toy Story 3), Bill Nighy (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1), Alfred Molina (The Tempest), Abigail Breslin (Janie Jones), the list goes on.
As stated, the plot is predictable in nature, but then again, there are only really seven basic human stories, so the idea that Rango tells a familiar one shouldn’t be surprising.
The writers make up for it with a vast array of wild embellishments and some truly awe-inspiring battle scenes. The canyon chase, which finds the heroes aboard a carriage of precious water being hunted by a legion of bat-riding moles, is equal parts hilarious, fast-paced and exciting. Yet again, the visuals are a treat to the ocular nerves.
The quality of most children’s movies these days is faltering — far too many Shreks and one too many Alpha and Omega — so it’s nice to see a film that wants to appeal to all ages in an appropriate way. Instead of placating the youngsters, the filmmakers play the more dangerous game of making Rango a film appealing to adults while leaving enough crumbs behind to grasp the minute attention spans of the rated-PG crowd.
With Pixar’s ridiculous Cars sequel coming quickly down the pipeline, Nickelodeon proves there’s plenty to be said for other cartoon films. And come next Oscar season, don’t expect this gem to be forgotten.
RATING: 4 stars out of 5
berman@umdbk.com
