Rango (2011) - Verbinski's amusing family western animation

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1 Time Film Excess Nominee:

Best Animation: Gore Verbinski (lost to Kung Fu Panda 2)

Gore Verbinski's Rango features striking character designs as is obvious from this poster for the film

QUICK REVIEW:

An acting chameleon drops out from his terrarium in the middle of the Mojave desert, where he finds the town Dirt. Here he acts like a hero and gets appointed sheriff. But the town has a pressing water problem.

Johnny Depp (From Hell (2001)) is good and funny voicing Rango and leading a fine voice actor cast: Ned Beatty (Life (1999)), Alfred Molina (Magnolia (1999)), Ray Winstone (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)) and Harry Dean Stanton (Wild at Heart (1990)) among others. Unfortunately, Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood (2004-06)) is sorely miscast as the 'Spirit of the West', an old kind of God-figure.
The beginning of Rango promises a uniquely psychedelic, grand animation; gradually, though, the film instead gets bend towards the absolutely recognizable, formulaic direction, which is a shame. The script is by John Logan (Hugo (2011)), based on a story by Logan, director Gore Verbinski (The Lone Ranger (2013)) and James Ward Byrkit (Coherence (2013)).
Rango makes you laugh, and the special animation style is enjoyable throughout.
Verbinski had previously worked with Depp in the three Pirates of the Caribbean movies (2003; 2006; 2007) and did so again in the mega-flop Lone Ranger. After that affair, Verbinski won't be back as a director again until next year with a much smaller film, titled at the moment, A Cure for Wellness.

Related post:

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 135 mil. $
Box office: 245.7 mil. $
= Big flop
[Rango was well-received by critics, (Roger Ebert awarded it 4 of 4 stars!), and it won the Best Animation Oscar. It opened #1 with a 38 mil. $ opening weekend in the US, where it became the first 2011 release to break 100 mil. $, grossing 123.4 mil. $ (50 % of the total gross). The film caused some ratings controversy, since several characters smoke in it, but it still retained its PG-rating. Though the film cannot be counted a commercial hit in theatrical terms, its distributor Paramount Pictures were so satisfied with it that they decided to start their own animation department after their deal with DreamWorks Animation elapsed in 2012.]

What do you think of Rango?