Rango

If the Spirit of the West spoke in the voice of the real Spirit of the West, Rango would be lacking absolutely nothing. The biggest advantage of this (mostly) adult cartoon is its director. Gore Verbinski has a habit of throwing ideas around and impressing with action scenes, but not forgetting to have a well-constructed story, humor and character portrayal. And just like in (especially the second) Pirates of the Caribbean, he succeeds here. In addition, the ILM computers turned out flawless, perhaps 99% realistic animation, Hans Zimmer wrote his best music since Sherlock Holmes, and each of the actors who dubbed the lizards, rodents, birds and others clearly had a great time doing it. Just like me. (19/06/2011)

The film features excellent individual elements that stand out on their own (Clint), underlined by spectacular visuals (Deakins), playful music, and a horde of allusions, quotes, and parodies. Unfortunately, the result of the aforementioned is a rather incoherent patchwork, whose issue is not so much that it dabbles in multiple genres, but rather that it lacks the real wit that might have brought (paradoxically!) a bit of childishness in Verbinski's writing, the absence of which, on the other hand, I can quite understand after the Pirates trilogy. (03/08/2011)

It is my bitter fate to stay grounded and describe soberly what is wrong with the film, while others indulge in a flood of stars and use only superlatives in their reviews. However, I will start with some praise – visually, it is well-crafted, with excellent animation, and fans of the western genre will especially appreciate the game played with the viewer, as the script pays homage to all the important films and genre clichés of classic westerns and their modern variations. Some scenes are really great, like the battle over the water tank, which speeds up the pace by several notches, and the characters face an aerial attack by a squadron of bats armed with machine guns – a treat for action genre enthusiasts. However, I had a big problem with the uneven pace of this film, at certain moments it became quite tedious, which is related to the second problem: due to the numerous references to classic films and emotionally charged scenes, it lacks a cohesive storyline to a considerable extent. It is simply the kind of film where I appreciate many individual aspects, but overall it feels unfinished considering the expectations. Giving it less than 3 stars would be unfair considering its excellent ingredients, but my overall feeling is ambivalence, and I give it an overall impression of 60%. It is truly an animated film that older viewers will appreciate. My two children were bored at times. The more familiar you are with the references, the higher the chances that the film will resonate with you. Otherwise, I can understand the five-star ratings, although I do not share the same enthusiasm, as I feel that it all falls apart. (13/03/2011)

Typical Verbinski. The ideas are pressurized to burst, in a matter of minutes it's able to pulverize Leone, Coppola and Bay together, and it just burps lightly. It's much more functional as a Western ensemble than as a film. The scattering of the individual parts is even surreally generous, so the resulting impression is somewhat restless. With the addition of Czech dubbing, I will have to take away the fifth star, which does not change the fact that it is probably the animated highlight of the season. (01/03/2011)

The film gets off to a great start, the action scenes are witty and brisk, and Zimmer's great music works wonders. I found the main idea and especially its development rather weak and far from fulfilling my expectations, but the pace is quite high, the director successfully and originally gives us a taste of several different genres, and the main character himself wins your sympathy from the beginning and becomes incredibly entertaining with his immediacy and a reasonable amount of goofiness. My only real regret is the boring and clichéd ending, where the screenwriter either didn't know what to do anymore, or tried to make Rango into something more than just a throwaway kids' show. As an animated flick, it’s above average, but as an adventure comedy, it will soon fade from my memory. 3.5* (27/07/2011)