Rango (2011)

What do you imagine would happen if a pet chameleon, that sounded and acted just like Johnny Depp, were stranded in the middle of the Mojave desert?

Well, wonder no more, for Rango explores that very situation. The new animated film from Gore Verbinski follows the journey of Rango, a small pet chameleon who longs to find his identity. After a car accident on a desert highway, Rango is flung from his aquarium into the dry, blazing heat of the Mojave. He quickly finds an armadillo that, despite being run over, tells Rango of the Spirit of the West, and guides him on how to find water. Rango eventually finds his way to the old western town of Dirt, whose inhabitants include possums, turtles and moles. Dirt is facing a dire water shortage and Rango sets out to become the hero the town so desperately needs.

Rango is so chock-full of hilarious comedic personalities that it's hard to imagine the cast could be any funnier. Depp takes the lead as Rango, whose personality is made up of a series of acts, including a pirate that surprisingly sounds nothing like Jack Sparrow. Depp proves time and time again that he has perfect comedic timing and a true sense of what's funny for the audience to watch as he keeps the laughs going throughout the entire flick.

Isla Fisher does her husband, side-splitting comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, proud with her topnotch performance as Beans, the southern belle with an attitude. Fisher holds her own against funny-man Depp, earning more than her fair share of laughs throughout.

Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty and Bill Nighy round out the humorous townspeople of Dirt, and Timothy Olyphant makes a brief but memorable cameo as the incarnation of The Spirit of the West (although it must be pointed out that Olyphant's voice does not intrinsically belong to Spirit, although his very distinct appearance is sure to please any western film fan). The cast work well together and interact with one another in a believable manner, something that is not always found in animated flicks.

Rango is largely composed of the grey/brown colour palette found in deserts, and this backdrop makes the animated Rango, who is predominately bright blue and green, stand out. This creates a lot of fun for the children in the audience, and is a spectacular achievement in CGI that the older viewers can more fully appreciate. The film has a fairly standard children's runtime at around an hour and a half, but the fast pace of the editing and the adventure-filled story make it feel noticeably shorter.

Rango proves to be one of those kids' movies that appeals just as much to adults as it does to children. Even if you don't have a little one to take, Rango is a flick that's entertaining and fun for everyone.