Rango (2011) - 9/10

I remember being a big fan of Rango when it came out but have not revisited it since. On this re-watch I may be more impressed than I was originally, even if some of its references and homages go over my head. Time to hit the rubric though and see what's what.

1. Acting 

The voice acting for Rango is solid; though I'd expect that given the talent involved with this cast. Any ensemble that has the likes of Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty, Bill Nighy and Ray Winstone should be good by default. However, the bulk of the workload is carried by the Johnny Depp as Rango. Depp is able to tap into Rango's insecurities, false bravado, and artistic flair and help create a engaging protagonist who can be as funny as he is frustrating.

2. Cinematography - 3. Production/Costume Design - 7. Visual Effects

I'm going to mix things up here and just lump all of these categories together because what undoubtedly makes Rango so special is the amazing visual work being done. That also shouldn't be that surprising considering that the cinematographer was the legendary Roger Deakins and the VFX work was done by none other than Industrial Light & Magic - a match made in visual heaven. 

In order to bring the animated feature to life ILM decided to approach the film just as they would for a live action - meaning the reason the photography looks so good is because it was designed with actual photography in mind and not pure animation. It also meant that ILM did actual filming of the actors on camera which would later be essential reference material for the CGI work (they jokingly referred to this process as emotion capture). 

The animation team also knew that they wanted the CGI characters to look very photo-real while still being cartoonish in nature. Therefore even the original concept art was constructed with an extremely high level of detail. However, since higher level of detail also means a higher budget cost, the team planned to cut corners on other aspects of the film such as background. Luckily for audiences, they found that you can't have extremely high definition characters placed into a low-res rendered background without looking silly. Their solution - just make absolutely everything as photo-real as possible.

To help sell the realism, the team also utilized several camera and lighting tricks to mimic the real world. Dirt on the lens, lens flare from the sun, 'blown out' windows in interior spaces, dust floating in the air, etc. They also played attention to the environmental lighting from Desert - meaning extremely bright light the emanates from both the sky and reflecting off the sand/dirt. 

Another incredibly important aspect of the visuals is the character designs. Starting with actual desert animals and creatures, the team created a wide range of characters that all feel very unique and very well thought out. In particular, since there is a relatively large cast of characters, the individual designs helps inform the audience of character without needing to give everyone detailed backstories. For example, Jake being a rattlesnake and the concept for his design easily illustrate his villainous nature. Everything from little scars on his face, to the type of hat he wears, to using his whole body to be a gatling gun - all of it informs character and is inspired by the predatory nature of the actual reptile. It is a clever and effective shorthand.

4. Writing 

While the main strength of the film is its visuals, the writing is really good as well. Rango being a fish out of water with a penchant for acting was a smart choice for the antagonist. It establishes a baseline that the audience lives in modern times like him, but is being thrown into this remnant of the past - the west. It allows for the entire film to be an homage while still being able to stand on its own. 

As for the structure, the meta-ish nature of a 'storyteller' like Rango living an action adventure is an enjoyable spin and pairs well with the overall Mariachi Band band's third person/omniscient narration. The film also doesn't hide its reverence for what has come before. Timothy Olyphant being used as a clear stand in for Clint Eastwood is an obvious example of that at the beginning of act 3. 

Plot wise, the story is fun and engaging for all audience members. The humor can be both high brow and low brow, and seamlessly transition between visual gags and subtle jokes buried in the dialog and characters actions. And I enjoyed Rango's arc from a selfish fish out of water that lies to himself and everyone, into a selfless hero who no longer has to pretend he is something he's not. Everything was very well done. 

5. Sound Design 

I think the soundtrack made a lot of smart and funny choices that pair well with the tone of the film. Hanz Zimmer is credited with the bulk of the work for the soundtrack, but he smartly collaborated with the Latin band Los Lobos to properly inject a layer of authenticity to the Mexican folk inspired sound. They also play around with preexisting orchestral tracks to include Ride of the Valkyries during the excellent canyon chase. 

The sound effects were also excellent and the integration of soundtrack flair such as the homages to Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone style spaghetti westerns were great.

6. Editing 

The film clocks in at 107 minutes but does feel longer at times. If the film wasn't so visually appealing it may have felt like it dragged too much in the middle sections  and rushed the ending. But with enough of the finer details to keep you engaged, the edit is largely fine the way it is.

8. Originality or Strength of Adaptation 

This phrase gets overused a lot - but this definitely does feel like a 'love letter' to westerns. I am by no means a western historian, but audiences/critics have noted several direct or indirect references from films such as The Shakiest Gun in the West, A Fistful of Dollars, Chinatown, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Cat Ballou, Raising Arizona, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, El Topo and even Star Wars. 

As far as strength of adaptation - the film largely stands on the shoulders of what came before without offering too much of its own spin. However, its real strength is taking the western and turning into a very funny and approachable family film that can be enjoyed by everyone, not just cinephiles.

9. Stunt Coordination 

The action designers did a good job overall, but REALLY went all out for two sequences in particular; the first shootout and the canyon chase sequence.  

The first shootout is a great subversion of the classic scene featured in so many films within the genre. At first it appears to be a direct retelling of the classic high noon showdown, but quickly devolves into a raucous chase sequence throughout the town. There is so many great storytelling moments within the sequence. For example, Rango dropping all his bullets before the shootout, followed quickly by his whole gun belt falling off, all before the villain running off because a bigger villain has wandered into the scene unbeknownst to the protagonist who is making a triumphant speech about his faux victory. Its informative of the character, creates more than a few humorous moments, and quickly hands off to a chase full of top notch animation and more comedy.

Then later in the film we get a gigantic spectacle filled chase sequence that is backed to the brim with seemingly never-ending little details. The use of bats as stand ins for fighter planes was inspired, the use of Ride of the Valkyries, and the sheer number of things happening on screen is incredible. This may go down as one of my favorite chase sequences in all of film. It is so good.

10. Direction 

Gore Verbinski wanted to tackle a 'small' film after finishing the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy which is especially funny considering how much work ended up going into Rango. Nevertheless he had a goal of trying to take animation and move it beyond being purely a 'family entertainment' style and in that I think he largely achieved it. Rango can certainly be enjoyed by all ages, but this film arguably caters more to adults then kids. It also has a clearly cinephile angle to it in terms of westerns - not radically different to how Tarantino's love of 1950/60s pulp and noir lives within Pulp Fiction.

Legacy/Final Thoughts

Rango looking this good almost 15 years after the fact is a major achievement for this film. However, I find myself more appreciate of the whole as I try to wrap up this review. This movie not only looks fantastic, but has a great structure and design to it and I think the sum of all the parts is better than I initially thought. 

However in terms of legacy- the film won the Oscar for Best Animated Film and then quietly started to slip into obscurity. I am not sure exactly why that is the case but it likely has to do to the overall decline in audience appetite for westerns paired with a more adult approach to animation. I imagine this makes the film seem more niche than it actually is which is quite unfortunate.