The Lone Ranger $$$
PG-13
149 Minutes
Starring: Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, William Fichtner, and
Ruth Wilson.
Director: Gore
Verbinski.
Hi-Ho,
Silver.
The
Lone Ranger has arrived in theaters and expectations are high because Johnny
Depp and the people responsible for the Pirates of the Caribbean films are involved. And from the
short glimpses I’ve seen during the trailers it looks as if the viewers are in
for a wild ride.
The
movie opens as John Reid (Amrie Hammer) returns home. He plans to bring his
idealized notion of justice back to the wild western land where he was born. As
it just so happens, the notorious outlaw Butch Cavendish (William Fichter) is
on the same train. Cavendish has a date with the hangman. John interrupts the
rescue effort that the Cavendish gang has for their boss and ends up chained to
an Indian named Tonto (Johnny Depp) who wears a bird on his head.
I
don’t remember the original series so I can’t compare it to this film, leaving
me to review the movie entirely on its own merits. The Lone Ranger was a fun trip at the theater. All the way around,
the acting was good. As expected, Johnny Depp turned in an over-the-top
performance. Armie Hammer was a little too inept for my tastes, but I expect
others may disagree with me. William Fichtner turned in a creepily awesome
performance as bad guy Butch Cavendish.
Special
effects were good. This is definitely a film that benefits from being seen on
the big screen. The story line was decent. I could probably pick out some flaws
with it, but I was too busy laughing to notice most of them.
I
felt that The Lone Ranger deserved a solid 3 Movie Bucks. See it in a first-run
theater, but wait to catch it during a discounted showing.
Randy’s
Rating System
$$$$ =
Full Price See this movie right away
and pay full price, it’s worth it.
$$$ =
Matinee Catch this as a matinee or
other discounted showing.
$$ =
Discount Wait until this movie reaches
a discount theater near you.
$ =
Rental Wait until this movie
reaches your local video rental outlet.
0 =
No Sale Don’t
see this movie at any price.
I can't watch that with the racist casting of Depp as Tonto.
ReplyDeleteUnderstood. Who do you think would have been a better choice for the role?
DeleteGood review Randy. Some of it was fun and exhilarating, but most of it was just a bore of a chore to get through.
ReplyDeleteWhich parts did you find boring? I thought it was fairly decent.
DeleteI really want to see this!
ReplyDeleteConsidering how the rest of the comments have gone, I'll be interested in hearing what you thought about the movie once you have seen it. Hope you enjoy it.
DeleteGood review Randy… Scott, Luke, Faith and I saw it in Provo last week. I wasn't crazy about how violent it was, and I'm not a huge fan of cowboy movies in general (the kind where most people's faces and teeth are filthy, etc…), but overall was entertained and thought they did a pretty darn good job with it. Johnny Depp's character reminded me a lot of his role on "Pirates of the Caribbean."
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was a bit too gruesome. They could have gotten the same story elements through in a less jarring manner.
Delete