Netflix

Many children’s movies are good, however very few push far past those expectations and stick out as amazing. Rango is one of those masterpieces.

Rango, voiced by Johnny Depp, is a pet chameleon who hasn’t ever been outside his tank. Yet one day on a road trip with his owners, he flies out the car, leaving him stranded in the desert. Amidst his adventures, Rango becomes sheriff of a town inhabited by similar creatures and embarks on a quest to help the town with their dilemma of water shortage.

The animation and character design is something that truly sticks out during this film. All characters, however, especially those such as Beans (Isla Fisher) and Bad Bill (Ray Winstone), have such a strange and unique look to them. This abstractness is an excellent choice to individualize this movie and make it stick out.

What really can make a film so enjoyable is humor, and Rango is by no means lacking it. Its witty jokes are a huge contributor to just how entertaining the movie really is. As well, the movie throws in many adult jokes, making this one of those great movies that kids can look back on when they’re older and get a good laugh.

The director, Gore Verbinski, does an excellent job at the cinematic look of each shot. There are multiple sole shots of Rango standing by himself in the desert, letting the western cowboy vibe nicely marinate. As well, at the end of the movie there is a final showdown with many dramatic and different-angled shots. 

The cowboy western vibe of this movie is portrayed near perfectly.

Musically this movie proves well, not particularly something spectacular, but is well written and eye catching. However this is expected as composer and producer Hans Zimmer wrote the music. He famously writes for movies and all his works turn out good and memorable, for example, the Interstellar soundtrack was done by him.

The fact that Rango is a chameleon plays a crucial and well written role in portraying the theme. He blends in a lot, figuratively and literally, to pretend to be someone he’s not, avoiding his true self.

For example, when he becomes sheriff, it is at first not deserved and rather a huge misunderstanding, but Rango plays into the role and blends in to what isn’t him. His ark of finding his true self is something ingeniously written.

The writing of this movie is something particularly great, especially referring to the end. When the characters find out the twist of where all the water is really going, the audience nearly gasps along with those on screen. The twists and development of the story are executed very well.

On the romantic side, the love story between Beans and Rango is very well written and adds much spark to the movie. Throughout the course of the movie, Beans heavily helps Rango in his journey of true self, tightening their bond and overall creating a great part of the story.