Rango (2011)

Director: Gore Verbinski

Rango is an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff.

There’s no denying ‘Rango’ is a most unusual animated film. It doesn’t have the typical storyline, characters or humor most animated films have. This is what made ‘Rango’ so exciting.

A pet chameleon’s life becomes a quest for survival when the car he travels in swerves for an Armadillo, throwing him from the car. Rango soon finds himself in a town called Dirt, where the water has suddenly disappeared. After a heroic deed, Rango is assigned sheriff and must try to solve the water mystery. In the process he would become the most unlikely of heroes.

I must be honest I didn’t find the first few minutes very funny, or all that interesting for that matter. It was cute in places, but also bland in others. However, around the midway mark, it became very exciting and quite thrilling, actually, with lots of action and fast-paced sequences. The animation is stunning, as was the score. ‘Rango’ turned out to be a clever way of conveying a very important message. Man so ignorantly believes they control the world.

‘Rango’ is an animated Western that even pays tribute to Clint Eastwood! Classic!

‘Rango’ earned $245.7 million on a $135 million budget. It received an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. The film received 71 award nominations, winning 46.

Would I watch it again? Yes.