Rango will leave a bad taste in your mouth if you brought children to the theater. What could have been a great children’s movie ended up an average drama-comedy for western lovers. Though you should blame the advertising department, not the movie.
Everyone that’s seen the movie will first immediately mention the beautiful visuals, saying, “Best I’ve ever seen,” “puts Pixar to shame,” and other nuggets of over-compensation. If visuals could make movies better, then Sunshine would have won Oscars. Yes, the world of Rango was incredibly detailed, and the characters were lively and diverse. But all that gorgeous scenery falls flat as a backdrop to a dull story and rigid character development.
Rango’s story is an amalgamation of, and homage to, classic westerns. Many of the key story points are taken directly from popular westerns. For example, Rango isn’t the main character’s real name: he is the ‘Lizard With No Name.’ And he lies about being Rango, a notorious gunslinger, which is taken from another western– several, actually. Outside of the movie’s setting, there’s very little creativity and this will weigh on you if you aren’t a classic western fan.
To parents, a grain of salt-based caution: despite what uptight people will tell you, the movie does not make satanic references. Those lines are references to classic western dialogue. On the other hand, there are two mild curse words spoken in rapid succession near the end of the film.
Not that you should take your pre-teens to see this movie anyway. Let ‘em work through some Eastwood films first.