A lonely chameleon with a flair for the theatrical is thrown from his owner's vehicle and left all alone in the middle of the Mojave Desert. After barely surviving an encounter with a hawk and not to mention the deadly heat, the little fella eventually stumbles upon a miniature town resembling the old west. There he meets various rodents, amphibians, reptiles, and birds all bearing the proper and respective role of townspeople. It turns out that there is a major water shortage, and the townspeople are in desperate need of someone to look up to and guide them through the crises. The chameleon is just the man for the job. Inventive is just one of the many affirmative words that springs to mind when thinking of how to describe Rango. It is an animated movie for everyone, and furthermore it is a movie for people who love movies. With nods to 2001, Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Chinatown, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. it reveres these classics while showing it can put on a pretty good show itself. The animation and direction are unique, wonderful, and inspired (even the vastness of the desert is magnificent. Just how do the animators capture that?). The voicework is terrific with Johnny Depp doing fabulous work as Rango, and others including but not limited to Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty, and Bill Nighy as the slithery Rattlesnake Jake. The film is wonderfully written, and I couldn't believe how many times I caught myself laughing out loud (at an animated film, really?). The movie is a send-up of Westerns, but still holds reverence for the genre by containing accurate details such as speak, dress, and look. Here is a film that makes us appreciate the movies and realize how good of a medium film can actually be.
