1. Shiira

   10

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Who is the movie buff: the filmmaker or the protagonist? Is "Rango" the culmination of all the films that the hammy chameleon may have glimpsed perchance from behind his terrarium glass over the course of time in a home with a nearby television. In other words, is Rango's misadventures in the hallucinatory town of Dirt a moving picture, a post-modernist one to boot, that unreels psychically through his tiny reptilian head? It sure looks that way. From time to time, the domesticated(and cultured) animal constructs an invisible box in the air with his finger, which would seem to indicate a screen, as if he was setting up the next shot. It's a little bit of self-awareness on the film's part suggesting that it's the chameleon calling the shots, like a John Ford with scaly green skin, filling the mis-en-scene with costumed critters in a tribute to the old west that's more cracked than Alejandro Jodorowski's cult-classic "El Topo". "Rango" could be entitled "El Dopo". It's almost a stoner movie. If Rango is indeed the true author of the film-within-the-film, the next question we should be asking is if he's even alive? After all, terrariums don't come equipped with either seatbelts or airbags. When the chameleon is jettisoned from the back of his owner's crashing vehicle, does the impact of the road leave him unconscious, paving the way for his dreaming self to conjure up a glass shard, the remnant of a blown-out back-window which allows him to skid safely along the highway? If the armadillo(Alfred Molina) with the missing midsection offers any indication, Rango probably never did survive that vehicular accident, because only roadkill can hear other roadkill speak. Arguably, death is the best thing that ever happened to the chameleon with directorial aspirations. (This decidedly avant-garde offering actually has a lot in common with Brad Bird's "Ratatouille".) In life, Rango suffers from writer's block, somebody who is long on theory but short on story; somebody who can't even decide on a genre, mulling over as he does on a multitude of genre-specific roles, among them, a sea captain, a rogue anthropologist, and a Casanova type. Limited by the inanimate objects that make up his sorry compliment of ensemble players, the chameleon also seems to be disenchanted by his apparent medium, the play, as suggested by the demarcations of the imprisoning glass which confines the lonely varmint to a single setting, thereby converting his terrarium into a stage. Throughout his opening soliloquy, steeped in metafiction and existentialism, Rango interacts with "actors" who can't act back; he yearns for the collaborative experience that mere props simply can't offer, and a change of scenery from the fixed mountain range and sky which comprises the backdrop of his controlled environment; his laboratory for artistic development. Stuck in a sort of Brechtian hell, Rango indicates his desire to escape from the terrarium(which is, for all intents and purposes, a metaphor for experimental theater), and then to enter the filmic world, a diegesis, when he draws that first rectangular screen, a sort of portal which leads to the place where dreams come true. No more aimless soul-searching: this chameleon wants to break free and live. Construed as a death metaphor, the allusion to the "other side" that the sage-like armadillo imparts to his new scaly friend, can also be taken as a showbiz one, meaning the transition from stage to screen. Later in the film, Rango successfully crosses the highway, and on this other side, he meets the High Plains Drifter himself, which to the chameleon, is the perfect being, a god who looks over the weird array of cowfolks that populate his movie. In reality, Rango may be near-death on the highway, or on the side of the highway, so what we're actually seeing is an imagined life filtered through the cinema as it flashes before his(and our) eyes, which encompasses a span of diverse films(especially Roman Polanski's "Chinatown") that met the chameleon's approval. When one of the minor characters uses the term "man" in a speech(rather than "critter" or varmint"), the fourth wall is broken, because in this self-contained world, there are no humans to speak of. It's Rango who is providing the lines; it's Rango who is doing all the talking. His reptilian consciousness forgets to convert "man" into animal terms. Being domesticated, maybe the chameleon forgets that he's an animal, as well. Look at his god. It's Clint Eastwood, not some animal version of the venerable actor/director. Rango flatters himself. He may think that he was made in god's own image.… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 4 users said Yes.
2. WillDefrangesco

   8

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't understand why people say their kids didn't like this, (they just simply didn't understand the movie) but it is a great movie. It's not full-blown comedy, it's a mix of comedy, westerns, action/adventure, and, even some drama. I was thirteen, I believe, when this movie was released. I admit, I wasn't very interested in it, but my younger cousin rented it and asked me to watch it with him. He's only nine, and he really liked it, (maybe because I introduced him to "non-little kid" movies when he was younger." I ended up buying the movie. I was very impressed, the presentation, the blending of how the characters interact, and the story. Rango is a story about a pet chameleon, no, not lizard, who is stranded in the desert after a car near-accident. Within minutes, he meets an armadillo, who was the cause of the incident. He tells Rango about a town with water where he can go to survive. So, Rango sets off across the desert to find the town, Dirt. Along the way, he encounters a hawk, who attacks Rango until he manages to escape. Rango finds a drainage tube and spends the night. When he awakes from water suddenly pours out, with Rango "swimming" in it, he meets Beans, a "western" female armadillo who agrees to take Rango to Dirt on her wagon. Upon his arrival, Rango walks into a saloon for water, however, he finds that water is a very rare thing in Dirt and the lack of water is forcing the citizens to sell their land and move away from the town. When asked his name, the chameleon gives us the towns folk the false name Rango, who they believe is responsible for killing the Jenkins' brothers (7) with just one bullet. Soon, the citizens and Rango bond and tell stories, just when outlaws Bad Bill and his gang arrive. When Rango inadvertently embarrasses Bill, he is challenged to a duel. Just before they shoot, the hawk returns behind Rango, scaring away the outlaws. It then proceeds to chase Rango through the town, at which point Rango hides in a vending machine and uses candy to climb out. However, the candy is still wrapped around Rango's waist and the hawk catches him just as he grabs hold of the empty water tower base. Rango points the gun, but then decides to split the candy with a bullet. The bullet accidentally snaps a rope and the tower falls on the hawk, killing it. The towns people proceed to look over the hawk, realizing only one bullet was used. Rango then meets the town mayor, an old turtle. The mayor knows Rango isn't what he appears to be, but to keep the citizens' mind off of the lack of water, the mayor makes Rango the sheriff. Soon enough, Rango becomes entangled in his own deception. When the mayor appears to be behind the mysterious water disappearance, Rango and his group of rag-tag citizens set off to uncover the mystery.
   
   Truly a great film and a solid 8-8.5/10… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
3. KendylKlownfish

   7

   Rango is far less charming than Disney or Pixar -- and more profane than any other "family oriented" animated feature I've seen. But it's cleverly written and beautifully animated, thus winning older audiences.… Expand

   • Helpful? 3 of 3 users said Yes.
4. m_elders

   4

   The beginning and end of this movie are the only parts worth watching. Those are the parts when you figure out the true meaning of the story. The middle is unbearable. If the town could turn cliches into water, the movie would end early in a much-needed torrential rain. I almost stopped watching. Usually cliches don't bother me so much, but none of the characters were likable. I couldn't hold on to anything worthwhile. If you watch this movie, just watch the first and last 15 minutes, and you'll have seen a decent short animated film.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.

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