Rango: Movie Review

The animated film industry, specifically 3D animation, has been dominated by one company alone for almost two decades. Pixar needs no introduction actually and if you do not respect them for their achievements or even haven't heard about them then what the heck are you into? In fact, since the Academy Awards started its Best Animated Feature in 2001, all eight Pixar films since then has been nominated and six of them actually bagged the prestigious award. "Rango" is one film that dares to challenge Pixar in its domain. Read on to find out what we think of "Rango" after the jump.

When an unnamed pet chameleon (Johnny Depp) falls of from the car, it accidentally finds itself stuck in the middle of the Nevada desert. The chameleon meets an armadillo (Alfred Molina) who is seeking for the Spirit of the West on the other side of the road. The armadillo advises him to go further into the desert. The chameleon follows this and almost gets eaten by a hawk. The chameleon then meets Beans (Isla Fisher) and introduces him to the town of Dirt. Dirt is having trouble with its water supply and the people need to find a way to restore their dwindling supply. When the chameleon introduces himself as Rango, a tough and legendary fighter, the townspeople seeks his help in finding where the water supply has gone. As Rango investigates further, he discovers more than he wishes to know.

"Rango" does not disappoint in the looks department. In fact, in our honest opinion, it is probably the best 3D animated film we have seen to date. At times, we had to look a second, even a third time just to make sure that what we are seeing is not the real thing. But as the saying goes, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover alone and overall, "Rango" seems to be out-of-sync with the audience it wants to please. To expound further, we think that "Rango" is a very serious film - even bordering being a film for adults. The opening monologue for example already shows sophisticated lines that some may find hard to comprehend. Ironically, the story is simple and kiddy at times while voice acting was great especially for Johnny Depp. In the end, "Rango" may please a more mature audience but not so much the kids.

Rating: 3 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- a serious and witty animated film
- the visuals are truly outstanding and the best we have seen in any animated film to date

Why you should watch it:
- might just be a wee bit too serious for the kids
- a film that seems to lost with who it wants to please