Movie Review: Rango

I first became aware of Rango when I was getting ready to watch a DVD at our old apartment [1], though now I don't remember which movie, exactly. I put the DVD in our XBox 360 and waited for the disc to load. I usually skip past the teaser trailers that pop up first. But the trailer for Rango immediately had me riveted. It had the look and feel of a spaghetti western. My fascination with this genre has partly to do with the fact that I spent two years in northern México as a missionary for the LDS Church.[2]

My verdict: Though Rango wasn't entirely what I expected, I wasn't disappointed. I really liked this film. Johnny Depp manages to give the main character, Rango, a voice that was reminiscent of Don Knotts in The Shakiest Gun in the West. All of the characters were well-drawn [3] and the animators were able to create some incredible vistas of the Sonoran Desert.[4] The moral of the story is a typical one for children's movies, but still a good one. I suspect that the dialogue is a little heady for children, though.

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Notes:

[1] See my post Out of the Old and Into the New.

[2] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.

[3] Leann said she couldn't look at some of them because they looked too gross.

[4] In the film it is incorrectly identified as the nearby Mojave Desert. How can I tell the difference? Saguaro cacti, which appear throughout the film, only exist in the Sonoran Desert.

Image attributions:

Saguaro Cactus at Sunset is by Bo Insogna, available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelightningman/4290081878/. I wanted to use this photograph, but I couldn't figure out the licensing. Oh, well.

Mojave Yucca is by Comrogues, available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/25652913@N03/2599347733. This was also not my first choice, but again I couldn't find licensing information for the picture I wanted to use. So, better safe than sorry.