23 May 2012

PG means Parental Guidance

It never ceases to amaze me! You've got a really good PG film, and all these right-wing parents come out of the closet screaming about the appropriateness of a PG film -- for children! That is why we have a rating system mom and dad! Read the bloody warnings BEFORE taking Johnny & Susie to the theater! Unbelievable! Are Americans really getting stupider? (They will be in Wisconsin & NYC when they trash all their educators!) Anyway, this really is a 5-Star non-Pixar Animated Film! I can't wait to see it again on DVD!

jaehns

23 May 2012

Disappointing

I was so excited to see this movie. I have a 7 and 8 year old and theyare in to cowboys right now. My husband is a huge western movie buff,so we thought it would be a great flick to go see together. Boy was Idisappointed. We all were.I went expecting to see a fast paced, funny, western cartoon. I thinkthe only thing out of those three I got was the western cartoon. Thismovie is not geared towards kids. However, the advertising, theanimation, and all the previews I saw were! I *think* that they may have been going for the next "Up" style movie.Where they are trying to create an entertaining movie for kids andadults with a much deeper message. I got the message, but missed theentertaining part. The other option is that they were trying to createa really bad, boring western. If so, they succeeded! The animation is good. Some of the characters are a little weird tolook at, but when you're trying to humanize lizards and such, I guessthey are going to look a little weird. I also thought the sound effectswere well done. The storyline has so much potential, but the movie isabout 30 minutes too long. Because it was so boring, the kids in thenearly sold out theater were antsy and loud the last half of the moviewhich did not help the experience much. You really couldn't blame them,though.Really bummed about it, we had looked forward to Rango since weoriginally saw it advertised in December. The kids didn't enjoy it, thewestern movie buff husband didn't enjoy it, and neither did I. I did,however, leave the theater really wanting a drink of water!!!

20 May 2012

Rango Cleans Up Dirt In This Fun Family Feature!

Cleaning up Dirt! Rango Rides! What a fun film! Rango (we never really find out his real name) has created a fantasy world inside his little terrarium, being an actor and his stage includes a headless Barbie doll, a wind-up goldfish, a tree and a lake. An unfortunate accident throws him out of his interior world and though he does not know it yet, gives him the purpose he has always craved. After some chat with a philosophical armadillo, he makes it to Dirt, a western town that must copy stereotypical characters from just about every western film you've ever seen, which is a good thing! Animation:I loved this animation! Pixar look out! The attention to detail down to the fire sparks from burned logs, sand and water, even pupils dilating. Amazing detail and all in glorious 2D (remember 2D?)! Fav Scenes: The story has a few nods to other films that the older viewers may catch, including a parody of Apocalypse Now, with flying bats playing Ride of the Valkeries as they shoot up the good guys trying to get their stolen water back. Rango is an actor and convinces the town that he is a hero and through a few lucky breaks such as killing the local hawk that has been dining on the citizens, they all consider him so. The slimy mayor however has other plans and is dealing a vicious hand to the detriment of the whole town. There are some slapstick moments, and a few lines are hilarious: "Is this heaven?""No. Eating PopTarts with Kim Novak is heaven!"Themes:Pretending to be someone you're not may get you aways, but really finding out who you really are is a start to respect for yourself and others. Bad guys are not necessarily all bad and can work with you for a common cause. And finally, those who take advantage of others' needs (the town and its lack of water) will eventually fail. Karma, you know. Film's Aftermath:The theater was packed with families. When I left, I heard one man exclaim that this is the most fun he has had in a theater in a long time. Quite a testimonial. Clearly this film will be nominated for Best Animated Feature -- but we have the rest of the year to go! Great start! Cast & Crew:Directed byGore Verbinski Writing creditsJohn Logan (screenplay)John Logan (story) Gore Verbinski (story)James Ward Byrkit (story)Cast (in credits order) Johnny Depp... Rango / Lars (voice) Isla Fisher... Beans (voice) Abigail Breslin... Priscilla (voice) Ned Beatty... Mayor (voice) Alfred Molina... Roadkill (voice) Bill Nighy... Rattlesnake Jake (voice)

20 May 2012

Love it... but not for kids

This review is from: Rango (DVD) I bought this after waiting a very long time to have it come out on DVD. I had seen the trailers and laughed out loud at them. I'd watched them all several times as a matter of fact. I was ready to laugh, but I was overjoyed to discover a great western film based on all those cowboy stories I loved as a kid. This isn't for children. It is animation for adults. The plot is simple and action might be okay for older kids, but small children will be bored because the inside joke type humor will be over their heads. With more twists and turns than a mountain road, this tale is funny, shocking and has a message. It also has a collection of very interesting desert critters that will have you coming back again and again.One of the special features is very entertaining as it shows the actual animals that ispired this strange cast of charcters and accents. In watching the how-it-was-done trailers, the actors were twice as fun as they got to play out the action and ad lib as they acted their lines instead of merely reading them.One to watch when you want to laugh out loud and be reminded of artistic genius.

prateak gauchan

19 May 2012

Fun all the way...Johnny Depp as rango is great...

Rango is filled with funny and slapstick moments.But it also has somereal serious sequences. This is the surprising element that should notwork and still it does..The film stars a chameleon (Johnny Depp), who thinks he's an actor,going through an existential crisis, as he has lived his whole life ina terrarium. When that life is quickly—and literally—shattered, hefinds himself walking in search of water. Instead, he finds a towncalled Dirt, where all the residents are plagued by outlaws and asevere lack of water, which is used as currency, it's so rare. Rango,seeking acceptance, assumes the role of sheriff, a role that has beenplayed before, but with more unfortunate results. To make mattersworse, someone is dumping water in the desert and draining all ofdirt's resources. Rango is now in no-man's land and must escape from aHawk who wants him FOR A MEAL! Tons of action awaits the viewer. Whocould it be, what is their diabolical plan, and is Rango really theunlikely hero of his own story?In case it wasn't obvious enough from this summary, the film's tone issurreal, complex and almost shockingly mature for an animated picture.It blends in so very many movie references, blending the gritty,revisionist western with the surrealism of Fear and Loathing in LasVegas, a too-obvious comparison on the latter's part. Director GoreVerbinski had a unique way of producing and directing this picture: hegathered Depp and all the other actors on a sound stage, in variouscostumes, acting out their scenes, as a sort of visual reference. Deppaffectionately—and appropriately—called this 'Emotion capture,' as itgives the movie a more natural, organic feel, as if the reactions werebelievable. When it's put on screen, it's full realized in bothinteraction and appearance.Still of Rango What most people have touched on when talking about thepros of this movie is, indeed, the stellar animation…and, boy, is itstellar. Granted, some of the human cameos are kind of on the flatside, but our animal heroes are textured and expressive, which isimportant in this kind of movie. We can reach out and touch these setsif we were able; the roughness of the scales, the harsh desert heat andthe sponge and spikes of cacti that crop up throughout are just a fewof the details in this grand visual experience. The characters thatmake up this floundering town are actually interesting to look at andlisten to, as the animation and awesome voice work give them alldistinct and likable personalities. The voices are great with eachvoice actor doing a fantastic job bringing these characters to life.Resident include old prospector mouse Spoons, large, but quiet tomcatElgin, morose, trigger happy little aye-aye Priscilla (Breslin), and,my favorite, the kind, but no-nonsense Beans (Fischer), a rancherlizard who finds herself falling for the goofy, but sincere hero. But,by far, the biggest fan favorite has to be Bill Nighy's rogue,Rattlesnake Jake, who is hands-down, flat-out scary in any scene he isin! How any kid will survive his scenes is beyond me! However, thatmade him more of a threat that Rango needs to overcome, which is moresatisfying in the long run.For movie fans there are references throughout. One that really standsout is an epic scene involving a man with no name and a golfcart.Ultimate coolness. Don't make the mistake comparing this to CGImovies like Ice Age,Kungfu Panda or similar. Approach it like it isfully fledged western that has everything and more of that genre.If youget past that than you will have the pleasure to see one of the mostfunny and entertaining movies made this year.However, the story has nothing new to offer. The fake hero plot is old,we've seen it in animated movies too, like Chicken Run. The liar with apotential good heart returns to save the city…The rotten leader whosells out his people is not a bright and blossomy idea either, only inthis here movie, we have the tortoise, usually an animal of wisdom,representing the corrupted character, in a rather uninspiredassociation made out of negligence or just to avoid a more clicheisticanimal. While that may seem rather unoriginal you have never seen the"new place, new identity" gimmick done like this.This animation is a great way to introduce children to the classicwestern theme.The landscape is beautiful, the enemies are great and the soundtrack isperfectly suited to the film (there is a fantastic version of ride ofthe Valkyries). The film is packed with satirical humor that helps tokeep the film fresh and helps the elements of the film to come togetherperfectly and you can tell that everyone was on the same page when theymade this film.I rate it 7 out of 10.

19 May 2012

Its the wild west.

This review is from: Rango (DVD) Don't want to be a spoiler, but i'm a super Johnny Depp fan, and a Jorge Louis Borges fan. This movie combines their style together. My favorite one.

18 May 2012

Great New Item!

This review is from: Rango (DVD) I bought this for a Christmas gift. It arrived soon after purchase and is in New Condition! We had watched this movie the day it came out on DVD. It is great! I do have to say that it is kinda adult themed though. If you are a Johnny Depp fan, you'll love it!

shadow840

17 May 2012

Rango

I wasn't sure about this film when I first heard of it but I gave it achance any way. I'm glad I did. The animation itself is pretty good butnot as good as the likes of Pixar and the film in my opinion runs a bittoo long but they are the only flaws. The characters in the film arefantastic ranging from the strange side characters to the main theyprovide plenty of laughs through out and also they provide a level ofcharm which has you feeling for them. Its too early to tell how thisfilm will stack up against the other animated films which are on theway but I personally think its one you shouldn't miss out on it willkeep you entertained throughout what ever age you are!

17 May 2012

Brilliant look, weak story

Exquisite in its particulars, the animated RANGO stumbles in most of its bigger picture issues. Any pretext of dramatically coherent storytelling with emotionally engaging characters is left in RANGO's desert dust. Instead, director Gore Verbinski delivers an eye-popping smorgasbord of glib cleverness and over-done homage.With its unique look and meticulous attention to detail, there is almost always something remarkable to look at in RANGO. But in this tale of a domesticated chameleon, Rango (Johnny Depp), abandoned by a near auto accident in the Mojave Desert, who stumbles upon the parched town of Dirt and becomes its de facto sheriff, did I ever care all that much about what was going on? Not really. The main problem is that the screenplay by John Logan (GLADIATOR, Spielberg's upcoming LINCOLN), from a story by Logan, Verbinski and James Byrkit, doesn't build the characters or events into a satisfying whole. Also, this ostensible comedy is never very funny. You might chuckle to yourself here and there, but the movie doesn't evoke many real laughs.Given Verbinski's track record helming the first three inexplicably popular PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies, the results here are not unexpected. Like those live-action cartoons, RANGO is visually impressive with a difficult-to-follow story that builds to obligatory action set-pieces, populated by characters in which the audience has virtually no emotional investment. But RANGO is also hampered by one other aspect - its over-reliance on a steady stream of pop culture references (though I'm sure the filmmakers would call it hommage). The main plot is a complete rip-off of CHINATOWN, complete with mysteriously diverted water and a bad guy mayor (Ned Beatty) closely modeled on John Huston's Noah Cross. The character of the Spirit of the West (voiced by Timothy Olyphant), who inspires Rango to action in the third act, is Clint Eastwood. From Sergio Leone to STAR WARS to Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan to Barney Fife, the movie becomes an exercise in "spot the allusion." And when the plot veers into head-scratching, "what's going on?" territory (like in the characters' brief view of Las Vegas), the audience is further removed from the experience.Despite these criticisms, the animated world of RANGO offers a treasure trove of visual pleasures. With the bar set so high over the last several years of CGI development, the art, animation and effects teams have done an extraordinary job in creating a living, breathing, visually stunning world. While the bug-eyed Rango and the denizens of Dirt, mostly desert-dwelling reptiles and small mammals, are not necessarily attractive, they are unique character creations that are true to their world. Visual credit must also be shared by the brilliant Roger Deakins (cinematographer of TRUE GRIT, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and many, many more) for his contributions to the film's striking look.

Rob Wilson

16 May 2012

Awesome

I mean... wow.*insert slow clap for ILM folks*Last night my wife and I had the pleasure of checking out an earlyscreening of Rango here in the twin cities. It was a blast! This moviewas a great deal of fun. The jokes all hit the right marks, the storywas solid, sweet and not too formulaic, and the visuals wereoutstanding. There were times that this movie looked 100 percent photo real.outstanding job modeling and texturing and lighting on this. the littletiny attention to detail in the world you guys built had my wife and Iin awe throughout most the movie. The animation was fun and eccentric.Over the top but at times subtle and felt meaningful. The only littlenit pick was the mouths on some of the characters. in the attempt tomake the animals look more like the animals they were representing themouths were quite small and at times the sync was a bit odd. Though itprovided for some goofy looking characters that were fun.at just over an hour and a half, at times it felt it was a little tooslow paced. well, that was my wife's critique. I looked at it more sothat they were going for the slower feel of some classic westerns. Ithought the long stretches of little dialog, epic music and visuals,and great cinematography worked in the films favor.The crowd dug it too. I think the youngest person in the theater wasabout 6 (which i found odd for a late night screening, but whatever)and the oldest was probably in their 70's and everyone was engaged.I was kind of surprised what they could get away with in a PG ratedmovie. Im no prude or anything, but there were enough adult jokes snuckin there to give me the giggle fits. Couple of lite swear words,references to more... ehem, adult type themes, but overall pretty tameand enjoyable.Hats off. If this doesn't win awards I don't know what I believe inanymore. This is one of the more entertaining movies I have seen in along time.

David Nusair

16 May 2012

...viewers will eventually find themselves growing tired of the movie's meandering structure and unusually deliberate pace...

15 May 2012

Not a fan

This review is from: Rango (Amazon Instant Video) I did not like this movie. Matter of fact, I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I am rating it two starts because my husband said it was ok. He has more of a taste for these kind of movies than I do.I thought the funny parts were not very funny. I didn't really care what happened to Dirt or anyone in it.

John Beifuss

14 May 2012

Sergio Leone meets 'The Shakiest Gun in the West' in this odd movie about a chameleon who -- credit the filmmakers for their cleverness -- doesn't blend in.

14 May 2012

Fantastic Desert Critters Nearly Undermined by Too Much Quirkiness

Rango is a brilliantly designed film. It's a western, starring desert animals that look every inch the part. It is a triumph of character design, drawing on a vastly underutilized subset of the animal kingdom. The casting is note perfect. Toads, possums, lizards, tortoises, and the deadliest rattlesnake gunslinger this side of the Rio Grande. Desert animals tend to be scaly, bumpy, and scruffy, and they seem so at home in the mining colony of Dirt, it makes other talking creature movies look like they were designed by plush animal companies. The irony is that if they ever made toy action figures of those mariachi owls, I would buy mine in a heart beat.The story is rather simple. It's the same plot from A Bug's Life, which is the same plot as The Brave Little Tailor. A newcomer (recently escaped lizard Rango) is mistaken for a hero to help solve the town's big problem. in this case, it's a lack of water. Had the movie simply stuck with this tried and true narrative, it could have become one of the all time greats.Instead, the filmmakers seemed determined to load it down with weird quirky bits that look like they belong in a Wes Anderson film. Rango's lizard love interest has a brain glitch that causes her to space out for minutes on end. There's a bizarre homage to Eastwood's Man With No Name, who drives around in a golf cart. The townsfolk line up to perform a strange rain dance every Wednesday. Rango himself spends the first several minutes of the movie putting on an odd one-man show before his aquarium is tossed out the window. These episodes add nothing to film, and only serve to jar us out of the expertly realized Wild West.The bits that work best are based on those time-honored motifs. Rango leading his posse out into desert in search of bank robbers. A runaway wagon chase, with a hundred bats in pursuit. Facing down that slimy rattlesnake at high noon. Too bad that storytellers want to keep busting up these scenes with walking cactus spirits and mystic roadkill. Rango is definitely a beautiful film to watch. It just could have used some tighter focus.

09 May 2012

rango

This review is from: Rango (DVD) we all loved this movie. I bought this movie for the grandkids so when where camping if it rains they'll have something to watch. GREAT GREAT MOVIE

Mark Dujsik

09 May 2012

Frantically and refreshingly fun.

Shawn McKenna

07 May 2012

Shakiest Lizard in the West

I do not always understand Roger Ebert's penchant for his overuse ofthe **** rating, but I still take it in consideration when decidingwhat to watch. I was in the mood to see something in the theater andthis week did not seem to have an overriding amount of films thatscreamed watch me. So I thought instead of watching the poorly reviewedBattle: Los Angeles, I thought I would see what Ebert stated as "...some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers,wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical, and (gasp!)filmed in glorious 2-D." His rating is, of course, too high, but themovie is a fun and pleasant experience.There is nothing tremendously new or original in the plot. While theanthropomorphism of the various animals thrown together help make itseem they are in their own unique world, film fans are going to noticethis is not the case though they probably will enjoy the huge amount ofreferences to other material. Johnny Depp plays Rango/Lars a lizardthat had a comfortable existence as a kept lizard in an aquarium with aheadless doll and a fake fish for a companion. A near accident in atraveling car causes his habitat to fly out and crash amongst thehighway leaving him to bake, shed skin and half to dodge traffic. Therehe meets an armadillo half ran over on the road (that has to be alittle much for young kids) who is a Don Quixote character (anotherreference to a Johnny Depp project) who sends Lars on his way to meethis destiny.Destiny is a woman lizard named Beans who has a quirky trait which isreally just an instinctual behavior gone wrong (she freezes atinappropriate moments). She leads him to a western town that is dryingup from lack of water. In fact water is the most important currencythere and unbeknownst to the two folks the bank's reserves are almostout. Lars finds himself in a saloon and with his acting talents and hisneed to not get killed he creates a fake bravado and a monstrously talltale of heroics. At this point I am reminded of Don Knotts in TheShakiest Gun in the West (IMDb wrongly states that the character wasBarney Fife influenced), but of course it also reminds me of theoriginal The Paleface (had to have at least one Bob Hope reference).Through happenstance and just plain luck the townsfolk thinks he is amajestic hero after he dispatches a ravenous bird and gets made sheriffby the town's mayor (Ned Beatty doing an obvious John Huston imitationfrom Chinatown). However, someone is stealing the town's water and withthe bird gone an outlaw rattler has no fear to come back to the town.Will Lars (known in the town as Rango) succeed? Is there any questionto what will happen in the film? Probably not, but it is still fun.This is not really a film for kids though. I was paying somewhatattention to the children's and parents reactions and it seemed theparents made the stronger laughs and comments. I wonder if anyone elsecaught the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas reference. Some of the scenesare a bit strong for PG and in some of the reviews I have read (ModestoBee for example) they like the film but pan it because it is not forkids.The animation is quite good and it helps to be seen in the theater.While the storyline is a bit trite and perhaps a bit too much materialis derivative (even the score is quite reminiscent of Ennio Morricone),there are enough superlative scenes and humor to make this a worthwhilecinematic venture. Heck I might go so far as to say this will probablybe nominated for an animated Oscar, as long as the Academy can remembera film before September.Other random information: I have to mention former Modesto nativeTimothy Olyphant as the voice of The Spirit of the West (I wonder whohe is imitating).

dkatsmeow

07 May 2012

Dark imagery and adult themes

My fiancé and I took our kids (11, 9, 8, & 3) to see this movie today.We were shocked that the previews shown on the television did not fitthe movie shown and was aimed at kids. The adult themes and constantuse of "hell" is definitely something that I don't expect in a kidsmovie. Characters openly saying "Go to Hell" and the owl mariachi bandconstantly saying he was going to die seemed more for "shock" valuethan to entertain children. Only a few minutes into it and we werewishing we had read more reviews and chosen another more "kid friendly"movie than this one. I was also expecting to see more humor because ofthe previews but the dark imagery overshadowed any humor they threw inbetween the "hells" and "dying" talk.

07 May 2012

Are we there yet?

This review is from: Rango (DVD) I got this delivered from Amazon because generally I like animated movies. I don't have kids and don't have any affiliation with kids so this review is not with kids in mind. Yes there was mildly strong language, get over it. the visuals were stunning. Details were awesome on the animation. And that's it. The story dragged, the plot was forever being delayed and I fell asleep the first time I watched it. I thought maybe it was because I was tired but the second time wasn't any better. This movie is just bad. I liked some of the action scenes but too much of this was reminicient of Dungeon Crawl. Slogging through the crap to get to the treasure and when we get there it turns out the treasure is an old shoe. Or in this case an old gunslinger. I really wanted to like this movie but it fell flat to me. I suppose some people liked it but I just couldn't stay into it.

06 May 2012

Rango, Return of the Western

This review is from: Rango (DVD) My grandsons, aged 7 and 4, were born in the Arizona Desert and lived here until this year when they moved to Kentucky. I saw this film and thought it would be a perfect way of reminding the boys of their roots. They absolutely loved it! The desert critters were so well done. The animation was fine, the characters were amusing and the plot was child friendly. There was just enough threat to our lizard hero to keep the boys interested. Johnny Depp's voice was perfect for the little beasty. I would recommend the DVD for both boys and girls and it was well worth the price.