You Had Me at Mariachi Owls
It's true. I love Rango. Passionately. LOVE IT.
It helps that this is one of the most bizarre and hilarious movies I've seen. Ever. And that the title character is perfectly voiced by Johnny Depp.
However, I'm not so sure I would take a youngun to see it, at least not one under the age of 10 (the movie is rated PG, somehow). The themes and dialogue are mature to say the least and include:
- intoxicating beverages
- tobacco, mostly the chewing kind
- guns, all sizes
- more than one mention of suicide
- jokes involving prostate exams and mammograms
- dialogue such as the following: "I once found a human spine in my fecal matter"
In short, comedy genius!
If the Coen brothers and Alejandro Jodorowski were to collaborate on an animated film, it would probably turn out looking and sounding exactly like Rango. The chameleon hero is a fast-talking schmoozing charmer, whose dialogue seems yoinked from a half dozen Coen movies. But he's also the star of his own movie, both the one on the screen and the one in his mind, as in Jodorowski's Holy Mountain. The metaphysics are overt (are they ever!) rather than implied--rare in a kid flick. Like the Coens and especially Jodorowski, Rango makes great use of the surrealist possibilities contained in the stark vastness of a desert.
The story is pervaded by mystery. After being flung from his owners' car, Rango wanders in to the desert in search of water, only to stumble upon a rodent town, name of Dirt. Unfortunately, a mysterious and unaccountable drought is plaguing Dirt, causing the citizens to pack up and move away. After Rango (accidentally) kills a hawk who had previously hunted the Dirt folk, he is named sheriff and sets out to solve the drought.
At the nexus of the mystery is a sinister tortoise of a mayor, one who uses a Victorian-era wheelchair. Never trust a crippled tortoise (or anyone really) who golfs.
And all the while, the characters are accompanied by a depressed quartet of mariachi owls who serve as the movie's Greek chorus. A misguided Greek chorus, since they are convinced that Rango has died or will die momentarily. (Don't worry, Rango doesn't die.)
The computer animation looks fantastic, especially since it's blessedly free from 3-D (do we think that trend's on it's way out finally? Please?). Almost all of the creatures are very ugly, but the details of their fur and skin, their facial expressions and their clothes couldn't be more perfect. Likewise, the town of Dirt is visually witty with, among other things, an outhouse made from a discarded Pepto bottle. The entire movie is stunning, with bold, almost violent shapes and colors.
So yes, this is a cartoon for grown-ups, for film students and for only the most eccentric and mature of kids. Bless their hearts.
