When ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl’ was released in 2003, no one really expected a film based off of a
Disney ride to be that much of a hit. But, to everyone’s surprise, it was, and
it soon led the way to three more sequels (two of which have passed the billion
dollar mark at the box office). This year, the main crew behind the ‘Pirates’
series (star Johnny Depp, director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer,
and writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio) reunite for a modern adaptation of
‘The Lone Ranger’, a series that got its start as a radio program back in the
30’s, which later spawned a TV show and a couple of movies. It seems like the
filmmakers are hoping that this film will start up a new film franchise the
same way ‘Pirates’ did a decade ago. However, with most critics giving the film
negative reviews and a less than stellar performance at the box office so far,
it’s probably unlikely. However, this film is actually better than what critics
have been saying right now. Sure, it’s not perfect, mainly because of length
and script issues, but it’s a fun movie that manages to get by despite its
flaws.
The story, as told by an elderly Indian named Tonto
(Johnny Depp) to a kid in 1930’s San Francisco, takes place in Texas in 1869
and follows John Reid (Armie Hammer), a lawyer who ends up being recruited to
the Texas Rangers by his older brother Dan (James Badge Dale). John joins his
brother and their fellow Rangers on a mission to find and capture notorious
outlaw Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner). The Rangers end up getting ambushed
by Cavendish’s men and are all killed, including Dan. John, however, survives
and after meeting with the younger Tonto, learns that he is a ‘Spirit Walker’,
a man who has ‘been to the other side’ and cannot be killed in battle. Looking
to enact revenge on Cavendish for the death of his brother, John teams up with
Tonto (who is also looking to find Cavendish for his own reasons) and takes up
the persona of the masked vigilante, ‘The Lone Ranger’.
The biggest problem this movie has is that it’s too
long. The movie is about 149 minutes long and that’s just too much for a film
with a script that is just not strong enough for a film of that length. This
movie would have worked much better had it been trimmed by about half an hour
because the main plot is a fairly simple story when you think about it. The
main character seeks revenge on the villain for the death of his brother; that’s
pretty much it. But it seems like the writers ended up adding in more besides
that, which is why the movie is this long. There are two other villains beside
Cavendish; a railroad tycoon (Tom Wilkinson) and a corrupt Calvary captain
(Barry Pepper). The inclusion of Wilkinson’s character actually does work in
regard to the story, but Pepper’s character is really just… there to be a
villain. The way the whole narrative is set up is also rather awkward too, because
there are certain points where the kid who the elderly Tonto is telling the
story to interrupts him, and the Tonto from back then even looks to the camera
acknowledging this as well, which really makes no sense. I’m not saying it’s
bad, but it could have been handled a bit better.
But the main thing that keeps this movie together is
its two leads. Depp and Hammer work off each other very well and they have
really good camaraderie, resulting in a good amount of humor. As Tonto, Depp is
pretty much channeling his ‘Jack Sparrow’ persona again here, but it still works
very well and he is responsible for the majority of the humor in this film
because of how ‘eccentric’ he can be. As the Lone Ranger, Hammer is perfectly cast
in the role, displaying the right level of charm and wit, especially when
working alongside Depp. Finally, there’s a nice supporting cast to back them
up, including William Fichtner (properly menacing as Butch Cavendish), James
Badge Dale (who’s having quite a year so far, appearing in 3 blockbuster
movies; Iron Man 3, World War Z, and this), Ruth Wilson as Dan’s wife Rebecca
(who has a bit of romantic connection to John as well), and Helena Botham
Carter as the owner of a brothel who also has a connection to Cavendish.
Right now, ‘The Lone Ranger’ stands at 23% on Rotten
Tomatoes and to that I say this… this movie is not as bad as that rating may
seem. For the record, I’m not saying the movie’s perfect. It does suffer mainly
from a length problem because for a movie that is about two and a half hours
long, the script just doesn’t have enough in it to justify that length. But the
movie still manages to work mainly for one main reason; it’s fun. If you’re
able to go into this movie and not take it too seriously, then I guarantee that
you’ll have a good time. This can also serve as a nice introduction for a new
audience to this character, namely because there hasn’t been anything related
to the Lone Ranger for at least three decades. Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer do
work together quite nicely, and I would look forward to seeing them do another
film in this series; just make sure that, if they do another ‘Lone Ranger’ film
(which may not happen if the movie bombs at the box office), don’t make it two
and a half hours long.
(On a side note, this movie does have a bit of a ‘post-credits’
stinger, but believe me… there’s not much to it.)
Rating: 3.5/5
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