Rango - 4 stars out of 10

Rango - 4 stars out of 10

"Rango"s animation is impressive but this Western's plot moves at a lizard's pace and the script leaves something to be desired.  This film's problems begin with characters that aren't very likeable.  I felt an overwhelming sense of "I don't care" from start to finish and only kept watching because the animation was so realistic.  The voice acting is average - don't get mad at me, Johnny Depp fans.  I love his acting too, but it's because he is so much fun to watch.  His voice acting is good but when you eliminate his visual mannerisms, you lose an entire dimension of his acting.  There are a lot of other big names in this cast (to the extent that I got excited just reading all of them) but none proved to be very memorable.  I am still trying to figure out who the target audience of this film is.  There is a lot of clever innuendo (thespians...) but it’s not enough to appeal to adults without kids.  The whole prostate sequence (don't read into that too much) was really funny and I really liked their stereotyped fireside conversation, but a lot of the script feels ambiguous.  Perhaps the movie was designed just for kids, but then I become very confused by the amount of language (which would also make this uncomfortable for parents to watch with young children).  "Rango" has its moments, particularly through its clever incorporation of well-known themes (The Magnificent Seven, Ride of the Valkyries, Blue Danube Waltz) into its musical score; unfortunately, its target audience is limited to preteens and this Oscar-winner can't offer much more than an impressive canvas whose quality of animation overshadows its story and script.