 |
| This pretty much summarizes the film |
Ok. Full disclosure here. I am not the lady that goes around finding deals and building towers of toilet paper. I'm the guy married to her and I went with her to see the advanced screening of
The Lone Ranger. It was only after seeing it that she informed me that I'd be writing the review. Because I write good and stuff.
First things first. I am not a professional critic, so I tend to enjoy things for the sake of enjoyment. If you've read the professionals, then you probably have the same opinion of their critiques as I do. "Oh, look... Movie critic Bob Boos said
Movie Opens July sucked pickled octopus ink. So it must've been a good show!"
That's right. I just critiqued the critics.
On to My Honest Opinion!
I grew up reading Lone Ranger comics, watching Lone Ranger shows and such. The Lone Ranger was like a mix between Batman and Han Solo. You
cannot get any cooler than that. Tonto was his staunch ally and sidekick, perfectly happy to ride in the sidecar.
At first I was happy that this movie didn't follow this trope. It reinvented the Lone Ranger myth and brought the Comanche and their plight of the ever spreading white man front and center. So much so several times during the film I began to wonder if this movie was about TLR or Tonto.
Our hero is not the Batman/Han Solo I remember. He's more of a 1960's Robin/Peter Brady type character. Naive, foolish and completely green. I suppose this is ok given that this is an origin story. Perhaps if Disney springs for a sequel they'll make him more... seasoned.
Tonto is totally the leading character. Depp plays a 20-something Comanche that is totally out for revenge against some pretty evil villains. Way more evil than what appeared in the shows and comic books I experienced. He's also nearly insane which, as we've seen in Depp's past work, is not really a stretch for him.
What I looked for:
A horse that can defy the laws of nature and physics Check
Tonto to say, "What do you mean 'we' pale face?" Did not happen. This is a good thing.
The William Tell Overture to highlight a playfully short moment If 20 minutes is playfully short, then check
A silver bullet Check
Johnny Depp to carry the film Check
All in all, I felt that there were some extremely dark moments in the film that simply did not jive with the comical portions. The plot was better developed than I'd anticipated but only in regard to the Tonto character. TLR doesn't have much to look back on I guess.
Do I recommend this film? Well, do you like involved action sequences, trains, magic horses, and explosions? Then yes. I recommend this film for you. If your job is as a movie critic where you compare every film to the greatest movies ever made and spend most of your time disappointed, then no, I do not.
Stephanie's take: I chose to let my husband write this review for a couple reasons.
* As most of you know I LOVE Johnny Depp and tend to get caught up in his acting/character and might not see the forest for the trees
* I did enjoy the film but do agree with my husband that there were some very dark aspects that seemed ill fitted. I don't want to spoil the film so will not go into details but it just seemed they were trying to portray some accurate accounts of the history of America and would start to get graphic but rush back to humor so as not to make one dwell on negative events.
*The action sequences were wonderful and very entertaining
*I would not recommend taking any children younger than 13 or older to this flick. There was a mother in front of me that had her younger child (maybe 8-9) and I could tell by his reactions, some parts of the movie upset him
And finally, for those of you with little ones(or little bladders) that beg to go potty but you insist on staying for the credits(Ferris Bueller taught me well), rest assured, you will not miss anything of note by taking them to the bathroom :D
Disclaimer: I was offered free tickets to see The Lone Ranger in exchange for this review. No other compensation was provided and all opinions, as always, are my own (and my husband's own).
Don't understand my lingo? Go here.
This site is free to use, but some posts may contain affiliate links. When you click these links they help supply funding to support this as a free site - see my disclosure statement here.
