Rango

Director: Gore Verbinski
Writer: John Logan/Gore Verbinski/James Byrkit
Producer: Gore Verbinski/Graham King/John B. Carls
Starring: Johnny Depp/Isla Fisher/Abigail Breslin/Bill Nighy/Ray Winstone/Timothy Olyphant
Year: 2011
Country: US
BBFC Certification: PG
Duration: 107 minutes

Every animated movie today is either created by Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks and it’s quite a rare occasion to see any animated movies out-do them. Rango is definitely one of those little animated gems that will please all ages and is something that isn’t aimed just for children only. Rango is a chameleon trying to survive the desert with big plans and dreams to become a swashbuckling hero. He might just have found the ideal spot, a Western town over-run by bandits that is desperately holding out for a hero to save it from destruction. Enter our lizard friend, ready to try out his fighting skills against some pretty bad-ass characters. Rango’s story isn’t really new to those who have seen classic Western movies such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and The Three Amigos as they borrow themes from them all but it would be new to children and to those who haven’t seen such Western movies. It’s not really a new story but it pays a homage to all of those classic Western movies. Johnny Depp provides his voice for Rango and his voice acting is just brilliant, he really brings the character to life and makes it his own. Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy and Timothy Olyphant were also brilliant as their characters and there really isn’t anything bad to say about the voice acting at all. The strongest point about Rango is the beautiful animation and how everything looks very realistic to the smallest detail and it never ceases to amaze you with every scene. 

All of the characters are simply loveable and funny in their own way. Every single character all had different dimensions to their personality and all stood out from each other. A great thing about Rango is that it’s target audience isn’t for children only but it’s more aimed at adults. There were quite a few scenes when Rango turned surprisingly dark but it’s not too dark that children would be scared by it. This is definitely a family movie and is something that adults will love just as much as children. Overall, Rango is simply perfect from start to finish and is something that could be easily labeled as the best animated family movie since Toy Story 3.

Rango is simply one of those animated movies that will be hard to top. It has everything you could ask for in an animated family movie and the best news for some people is, it’s not in 3D so the focus really was on the movie and it shows. You could really see the amount of attention and love this movie had through it’s amazing quality of its animation and it’s magnificent storytelling and compelling characters. I would definitely recommend Rango to those who either love animated movies or love Western movies, either way you will not be disappointed!

9/10