DAILY MANIFESTO

Rango Movie Review

Posted on Thursday, March 3 @ 08:21:14 Eastern by Nicholas Tan

One part Spaghetti Western, one part Fear & Loathing, one part Fallout: New Vegas, and almost all parts Chinatown, Rango is the unlikely adventure of a lizard who is thrust from his isolated tank into the merciless landscape of the Mojave Desert. His quest for water is immediate, a call to adventure to find sustenance and identity amidst the parched world. To survive, he relies on all he really has - a Hawaiian shirt and an innocent imagination - telling lies to the would-be believers in the town of Dirt of his famous exploits and death-defying kills. He is, through desperation and comparison, a lizard with no name.

But this is a family movie, a light-hearted romp filled with anthros, dream sequences, cactus juice, musical excerpts by an owl mariachi band, and what I can only describe as Americanized chocobos. The 3D skin textures, the natural lighting, and the blending of real-world photography into the CG environments are almost lush in their arid details. Rango's green skin serves as a figurative reminder of his inexperience and a heroic contrast to the desert. If water is religion, then the tap is gospel, and Rango wears the colorful text of life.

The tale is tall, the plot on the edge of expectation, tarnished only by a lack of true reflection and trial when Rango ultimately faces himself before the final act. His spiritual rebirth feels like it's given to him, prophetically or humorously - not earned by a test of courage but rather by the toss of suicidal luck. But apart from this minor blunder, Rango is a charming movie about the plights of the social chameleon, with enough childish jokes and adult humor to satisfy all audiences.

Tags: GDC

Comments

MrrClean
Joined: Aug 2010

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2011 at 9:17 am
This does not sound like a review you actually wrote, Nick, it sounds like you ripped this off of whatever other website had already done it... This sounds like a marketing release, that tells lots about the movie without actually telling us sh*t about it.

Then again, maybe its just me, and I need to go smoke a joint and watch this like I know I'm gonna do anyway...

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Bandilazino
Joined: Dec 2009

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2011 at 11:11 am
Stay classy Clean, stay classy. Thought it looked like a good movie, may have to check it out this weekend.

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Battousai8
Joined: Mar 2007

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2011 at 11:25 am
I have to disagree with mr clean based on the fact that its written in Nick's style and language, but that's just a casual observation... Personally I think this movie looks awesome, (here's where mr clean and I are on the same page) and I plan on smoking a nice, fat blunt and enjoying what looks like a good bit of computer animated entertainment. And don't worry I plan on staying classy all the while...

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Nick_Tan
Joined: Jul 2006

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2011 at 11:37 am
@MrrClean: Hmm... I'm not sure what other movie review or marketing press release will talk about Americanized chocobos and Fallout: New Vegas. My movie writing style is much more analytical on the characters, the plot, and movie references. I stay away from spoiling any part beyond ten minutes into the movie. At the very least, I hope that you were able to gather that Rango is a lizard who finds himself in the Mojave Wasteland and that his search for water becomes his search for self. And that the movie is funny and awesome. There's plenty of info in the review; in fact, I think I might have said too much...

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De-Ting
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2011 at 12:23 pm
I believe you Nick, and I definitely want to see this.

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Josh_Laddin
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Mar 3rd, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Lol? Nick wrote this, I saw the same screening he did. The review is pretty spot-on, I would only add a couple things:

In waxing poetically about the plot and characters, I think Nick glossed over (just a bit) just how impressive the CG is. It's hard for me to bring myself to say this, but Rango surpasses anything Pixar has come up with to date in the visual department. That being said, I still prefer most Pixar films because they nail pretty much every aspect of an entertaining film beyond just the animation, where Rango does falter a bit in parts.

I was also surprised by just how adult some of the humor is. This isn't your typical example of jokes that both kids and adults will enjoy, but more like there are some jokes that kids will enjoy, and others that fly way over their heads while the adults laugh nervously hoping their kids don't ask what those latex gloves are used for.

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sara_gunn
Joined: Oct 2008

Posted: Mar 9th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Oh, please. If there's talk of anthros, you know it's Nick.

But yes. Blunts. Rango. This needs to happen.

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hari123
Joined: Jun 2011

Posted: Jul 20th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I think this is a great family movie, with 3d effect and it is a charming movie about the plights of the social chameleon, with enough childish jokes and adult humor to satisfy all audiences.

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hari123
Joined: Jun 2011

Posted: Jul 20th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I think this is a great family movie, with 3d effect and it is a charming movie about the plights of the social chameleon, with enough childish jokes and adult humor to satisfy all audiences.

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