The Movie
Finding that perfect balance of a family-friendly animated film that engages both kids and their parents remains an elusive goal, despite the lessons of the current renaissance. For the makers of Rango, the solution seemed to be populating their surprisingly dark western with little critters in cowboy hats, a combination that didn't quite work for me.
The story begins when a pet lizard, a tad loopy from his solitary life and fancying himself an actor, suddenly finds himself out of his tank and stranded in the desert. He wanders into a strange town lost in time, and in danger of being lost altogether if they can't find a supply of water, and fast. By necessity, the mysterious visitor assumes the role of a tough hombre, which soon earns him the job of sheriff, tasked with uncovering the truth about this nasty dehydration business.
Yeah, he's lying his tail off and is eventually exposed and humiliated, but then he mans up and decides what's really important and... well, you can guess the rest. A story so utterly awash in clichés is easy to predict, while the dialogue is a little much for the kids at times, either over their heads or just too harsh, frankly.
The original PG-rated cut of Rango is joined on Blu-ray by an extended, unrated version which ends quite differently with an additional sequence that is also accessible in the extras.
While you're here, why not set a spell and mosey on up to Joe Lozito's review of Rango?
The Picture
This is what we get when the exalted visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic does animation, delivering a breathtaking confection of hyper-real detail, focus and lighting impossible with live-action, right down to the fascinating translucence of reptile flesh. Some shots meanwhile are rendered so spot-on as to be indistinguishable from traditional photography. The 2.40:1 computer-animated image is remarkably pure, too: What I thought at first was a bit of noise was in fact the minute play of virtual sunshine on a complicated texture.
The Sound
The accompanying DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track features some of the most beautifully crafted resonance and phasing I've heard in ages. The rears are exceptionally exploited, often discretely so, with effective directionality in scenes of action. Bass emphasis is solid when called for. Music is mixed with inspiration across the multichannel soundstage, with fine detail in the guitar and banjo strings. Sonically as well as visually, Rango is unquestionably first-rate.
The Extras
Some of the bonus materials vary depending upon which version of the movie we're watching. The audio commentary by director, story co-writer and producer Gore Verbinski, head of story James Ward Byrkit, production designer Marc McCreery, animation director Hal Hickel and visual effects supervisor Tim Alexander is only accessible on the extended cut, but we need to go PG for the Storyboard Reel Picture-in-Picture option, which overlays little black-and-white sketches in the corner of the screen.
There's a two-part making of (49 minutes total), ten deleted and extended scenes (eight-and-a-half minutes all told, at full video quality with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio), plus a 22-minute documentary on the real desert-dwelling mini-beasts that helped inspire the characters. All of these video extras are in HD.
"A Field Trip to Dirt" is a fairly amazing interactive tour of the town where most of the movie takes place, with lots to discover. Disc Two in this set is a hybrid DVD with the movie in standard definition as well as a Digital Copy for iTunes or Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
Paramount has hereby tendered another reference-quality high-def disc of a so-so animated movie. If you or your kids like lizards and westerns, then the mildly amusing Rango might be for you, otherwise consider a rental before committing.
Product Details
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