"Rango" proves that Pixar has no monopoly on terrific animation. It's an exuberant, audacious love letter to spaghetti Westerns masquerading as a kiddie cartoon. And it delivers deliciously on both levels.
Johnny Depp provides the voice of a hapless, neurotic pet lizard who finds himself stranded in the desert among tough varmints with no particular investment in keeping him alive.
Being a chameleon, he has a gift for blending in. Like a natural actor, he quickly grasps what his new audience wants -- a lawman to save the water-starved town of Dirt -- and makes believe that he's just the two-fisted galoot for the job. He convinces himself, too, taking on all manner of sidewinders with charmingly deluded self-confidence. His mission to give the townsfolk something to believe in becomes a quest.
The film reunites Depp with director Gore Verbinski, whose "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies rocket along like comic strips starring live actors. The team's move into animation frees everyone to push the boundaries of slapstick sight gags to the edge of surrealism.
The technical production also sparkles. The first feature-length animation from the Industrial Light & Magic effects studio is a holiday for the eye. Its action is set against panoramic Southwest landscapes that are rendered in rich color and vivid detail. Every wrinkle in Rango's reptilian skin has been art-directed to within an inch of its life.
The animated cast -- a menagerie of gila monsters, horned toads, rattlers, rats and other frontier wildlife -- is voiced by, among others, Harry Dean Stanton, Alfred Molina, Isla Fisher and Ned Beatty. I will never fathom the magic employed to make his ancient tortoise character resemble John Huston in "Chinatown," but I cherish the image.
Johnny Depp provides the voice of a hapless, neurotic pet lizard who finds himself stranded in the desert among tough varmints with no particular investment in keeping him alive.
Being a chameleon, he has a gift for blending in. Like a natural actor, he quickly grasps what his new audience wants -- a lawman to save the water-starved town of Dirt -- and makes believe that he's just the two-fisted galoot for the job. He convinces himself, too, taking on all manner of sidewinders with charmingly deluded self-confidence. His mission to give the townsfolk something to believe in becomes a quest.
The film reunites Depp with director Gore Verbinski, whose "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies rocket along like comic strips starring live actors. The team's move into animation frees everyone to push the boundaries of slapstick sight gags to the edge of surrealism.
The technical production also sparkles. The first feature-length animation from the Industrial Light & Magic effects studio is a holiday for the eye. Its action is set against panoramic Southwest landscapes that are rendered in rich color and vivid detail. Every wrinkle in Rango's reptilian skin has been art-directed to within an inch of its life.
The animated cast -- a menagerie of gila monsters, horned toads, rattlers, rats and other frontier wildlife -- is voiced by, among others, Harry Dean Stanton, Alfred Molina, Isla Fisher and Ned Beatty. I will never fathom the magic employed to make his ancient tortoise character resemble John Huston in "Chinatown," but I cherish the image.
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