Rango

Rango – When wannabe actor / house pet chameleon, Rango is left behind by accident on the road, he barely makes it into the small town of Dirt alive. Finding that it is being terrorised by bandits, he manages to bluff his way into becoming sheriff in order to secure an easy life. But when the threat turns very real and the town look to him for answers, will Rango’s performance be strong enough to become real?

Rango (2011) – Director: Gore Verbinski

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30058035

Rating: PG

Running Length: 107 mins

Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty

Genre: Animated, Drama, Comedy

REVIEW: ‘RANGO’

As the first full length animated feature from both Gore Verbinski (best known for Pirates Of The Caribbean) and Industrial Light and Magic (who usually do effects for other movies), Rango is a true movie lovers’ movie. When pet chameleon Rango is lost in the desert he stumbles across the town of Dirt. Passing himself off as a dangerous and skilled fighter, he becomes embroiled investigating a mystery – where has the water gone? This backdrop allows for a plethora of cowboy and western movie references. The movie oozes a love for the genre, whether it be from gorgeous dust bitten backdrops, a down and out town on the brink of disaster, or the somewhat psychedelic dream like sequences that warp with heat and exhaustion. ‘Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas’, ‘A Fistful Of Dollars’, and ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’ are referenced throughout delightfully.

All so good – for an adult viewer. But as a children’s movie, Rango falls down somewhat. Sidestepping being a ‘family’ movie, instead Rango is full to the brim of violent dialogue (spoken in jest or not), scary characters and sexual innuendo. True, most of this may go over the heads of children who tend not to take things so literally – but it’s hard to hear dialogue from a huge scary rattlesnake threatening to squeeze a character until their eyes pop out without feeling that the tone is overly strong for an animated movie about western-esque animals. Similarly most of the best gags are delivered in a rapid fire vocal style using language too complex and full of long words to really land with a young audience. So while children will likely enjoy the physical jokes and daftness that pervades a lot of ‘Rango’ the rest may either be too strong or simply not understood.

Vocal performances are all superb, with particular praise to Depp – for imbuing Rango with a bemused wannabe actor, always on the make – and Ned Beatty’s powerful southern drawl giving the Mayor every fibre of menace or charm as necessary. And Isla Fisher plays the strong and yet doubtful woman on a mission with aplomb. There is a lot to enjoy from ‘Rango’ – especially as it is so delightfully and passionately put together to be different to the powerhouses of Disney and Pixar animation. But whilst an adult can enjoy the references and, well, western-ness of ‘Rango’, the movie pitches itself as too adult for younger kids and so misses the mark of its own audience.

CONTENT: IS ‘RANGO’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A diorama of toys and inanimate objects are narrated over by someone creating a dramatic scene. The voiceover states that a doll (‘the Princess’) is preparing to take her own life. Rango, a chameleon, enters the scene and states that he is the ‘greatest lover the world has ever known’. He puts his hand on her knees but then moves her hand to slap himself.

An armadillo is run over and its middle part is entirely flattened, imprinted with tire tracks. The armadillo continues talking and doesn’t appear to feel any pain but the scene does last a few minutes.

Rango is lost and wanders the desert, suffering in the heat. He passes a cow skull and complains that he is going to die. A hawk chases him and a nearby toad disguises itself. However, Rango accidentally gives it away and the toad shouts, “I’ll kill you, you stupid lizard!” Later it also shouts “I’ll strangle you!”. When it tries to get into Rango’s hiding place it pleads “I’ll let you kiss my sister!” The toad gets captured by the hawk and as it is taken away it yells “You son of a bi….”

Someone is threatened with a gun and says that they will need to ‘put your face back together’.

In a saloon one character snorts and spits. A fly drinks a drip of the ‘cactus juice’ being served and collapses on its back leading an eye to pop out. Another character states that they ‘killed a man before breakfast, and ate him’. Other dialogue in this scene includes someone saying that they ‘killed ’em dead with one bullet – they can’t get deader’; ‘If I see you again I’ll slice your face off and use it to wipe my unmentionables’; and ‘what’s he doing?’, ‘I think it’s a number 2’.

A tower collapses onto a large antagonist. Its legs are up and visible and it screeches. Someone asks ‘when is it going to die?’ The reply is ‘soon’.

A female character is punched in the face by accident. The culprit yelps ‘so sorry!’

One character has an arrow through the back of its head and sticking out of the eye socket. It doesn’t appear to suffer any pain.

A previously sympathetic bank manager character is found dead. It is stated that he drowned. One character wants to eat him and complains that a ‘bird’s got to eat – it’s circle of life’.

When dressed in drag Rango has a hamster under his dress. When it comes out it says ‘well that wasn’t entirely unpleasant’.

A group of outlaws shout ‘lets hang them!’ when the main troupe is caught. These leads to an exciting chase sequence with lots of dynamite explosions and knives.

There is a lynching scene where the crowd shout threats such as ‘hang ’em until their head turns blue’, ‘nail ’em to the court house’, ‘cut off their giblets’ and stating that they will ‘eat our children’.

Rattle Snake Jake is a very threatening and scary character. He is significantly larger than the other characters and there are many close ups of his fangs and venom. He envelopes a main character and licks her face whilst she winces.

During the climax of the movie an antagonist character is dragged away and screams until out of shot.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘RANGO’ FOR KIDS?

We may be being too conservative when we state that ‘Rango’ is too strong for children. Whilst taken literally all the content above is strong and continuous, it is presented in a mostly non-threatening, non-serious way and when combined with physical comedy and silly voices no doubt there will be laughs. But with verbal jokes so rapid fire and complex, and if your children are likely to take to heart constant and graphic verbal threats, then we would recommend caution showing ‘Rango’ to children aged 6 or below..

• Violence: 2/5 (some physical threats, Rattle Snake Jake gathers up people in his coils, some injuries in fights)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (Rattle Snake Jake is shown in loud and scary close ups)
• Sexual Content: 2/5 (Some innuendo jokes, such as Rango explaining how he can have a brother of a different species by saying ‘mom had an active social life’. Another states that ‘thespians is illegal in 7 states’. Some frogs work in a building very much akin to a brothel. One character freezes in place mid-sentence frequently and Rango kisses her on the cheek without her knowledge or consent one time this happens)
• Bad Language: 0/5
• Dialogue: 5/5 (Many threats. Some detailed above, but also lines like ‘can I gut shoot someone?’; ‘I found a human spinal column in my fecal matter once’; ‘I’m going to skin you alive’; and ‘I’ll squeeze your brown eyes out of your head. I wanna see you die.’
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of acting, lying to gain advantage, coercion, extortion, theft, gang mentality, rising to expectation, poverty, and compromising to survive).
• There are many instances of smoking as a normal and accepted activity.

Words by Mike Record

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