Rango (2011)

When the first Toy Story came out it was an event, watching a completely computer generated picture was something very special. By now it seems like almost every kids movie is computer generated and it’s hard to keep track of the amount of new ones coming out each year. For every Toy Story 3 there are ten animated movies which you will have forgotten in a couple of months. After I saw the first trailer of Rango I couldn’t wait to see this though, as the look of the film made it stand out from any other animated film and I wanted to find out if this movie is forgettable or if it has “greatness”.

Rango a chameleon, who seems to have lost his mind, spending his time alone in his terrarium. He seems to be an actor playing out different scenes using the objects around him and has a vivid imagination. It results in a very impressive opening of the film, with a very surrealistic vibe.
Through some unfortunate events he ends up in this town in the middle of the desert which seems to be straight out of a western. The inhabitants have a big problem and are convinced that Rango is the one that can help them solve it. It’s a setup which is comparable to a movie like The Three Amigos. Will Rango be up to the task?

The film references various other movies like Chinatown, Apocalypse Now, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and various westerns. It doesn’t only do this visually, but also with its music. There’s even a small nod to Looney Tunes as the characters ride around on roadrunners.

The thing which makes Rango unique compared to the rest of the animated movies that came out the past few years is its look. It’s the first animated movie where Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) was involved and they have really managed to do things I have never seen before. The movie ditches the soft, colorful look you are used to with this type of movie. It creates a realistic looking world, which you’ll notice in its detail. An example is a scene in which Rango is walking over some sand dunes and you see the individual sand grains going down the dune. Another important factor is the lighting, which is used effectively to set the tone. Rango really gave me the feeling that I was seeing things which I have never seen before in animation (the last time I had that was when I saw Finding Nemo). The visuals are enough reason to go and see it as it’s doing something new and fresh in the genre.

The story itself has been written well and has a lot of exciting moments. Very young children might be a bit frightened by the film. The movie also has a lot of humor which only seems to be geared towards adults, but despite this, it is a movie for young and old.

In the past few years the Oscar for best animation kept going to Pixar, but as they will be releasing Cars 2 this year (of which I don’t have high expectations) I wouldn’t be surprised if this film wins the Oscar next year. Rango is breath of fresh air within the animation genre which you really can’t miss.

Score: 9