I mean that it turned a little boring, [spoil]the complete scene since Rango falls down until he saw Las Vegas landscape[/spoil], I understood part of the references but it should have been shorter,
one more thing about Rango is that I felt a little more interested in it because it has a western central theme (after seeing True Grit in which I loved Jeff Bridges character)
that particulary part was similar to what I saw in Pirates 3, when Jack and the Black Pearl are being loaded by those small rocks that looked like bugs
that is people’s idiosyncrasy when they think that something animated is JUST for kids
I liked the score too, but I really wish they included the music over the opening titles. I just like the way it gently brings you into the film while sustaining a sense of anticipation.
so i actually just saw this over the past weekend, and i have to say, it was fantastic. it wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, no, but i absolutely loved it. it was ~edgy.
So I’ve got my review published in my university’s student magazine! Here’s the original review sent to the editor (with the rating as requested):
And here’s the version that went to print (strangely without the rating):
And here are the bits and pieces that never made it past my editing stage, due to the editor’s imposed 300-word limit. MILD SPOILERS AHEAD.
Two things I’m annoyed about my editor:
The subheading ‘Family Fun’ is misleading due to the age-inappropriate jokes and violence, but since this is a university publication, it won’t be a big deal for its target audience.
The phrase ‘Starring Johnny Depp voice’. Even though he does not appear on-screen, his physical performance was captured and studied by the animators, so it is in my humble opinion that it’s not just his ‘voice’ that is present in the movie.
Minor gripes against my editor aside, I would like to thank her for sending me to the advance screening and publishing my review. If you ever read this Ellie, I am truly grateful! Hopefully this will create more awareness of the movie for students in my uni.
Good job, you have a really beautiful way with words. That’s too bad that some parts were put in that you didn’t like, but I think it’s fine the way it is! Thank you for sharing!
After watching Rango, Tangeled and Megamind over the past few months, I got one question. What’s with animated movies starting off with, “this is the story of how I died”, or something similar to that? For once I wish a movie would suprise us and do it.
theoutsider1983: You know, I watched Megamind a couple hours ago, and I noticed how the title was similar to Tangled. And from what you’re saying so is Rango. I’m not saying they’re copying each other, but it’s interesting how that all happened that way.
Rango and Tangled, I can see similarities. But I think Megamind looks different from the other two.
I must admit though, I love the openings of all three movies. It’s a cheap gimmick, but it certainly grabs the audience’s attention! I also love M:I:3, Inception, and the Canadian police drama Flashpoint’s style of mid-story openings, and of course, the James Bond pre-title sequences, which are almost always exciting action sequences.
BTW, thanks for reading my review, EJE! I really appreciate it, and yeah, I’m really proud that my reviews are getting published in my uni mag. Since '09, no doubt (I’ve posted my review of Up in the ‘Your Up Reviews’ thread two years ago, and since then I’ve written many more)!
Managed to see this today! Really fantastic movie and I certainly see it as a serious contender for the next Best animated Oscar. I really think it deserves a nomination.
It’s odd, but between this and expectations regarding Rio (which may be more standard storyline with some added flair- but still looks like it could be really good just differenty to Rango of course) if few animated movies are produced perhaps Pixar and Dreamworks will have to contend for the third spot. (Pixar will probably get it on grounds of them being Pixar reagardless of which is actually the better film IMO from the two companies but it could still be interesting.)
Perhaps either this movie, Rio or some as of yet other contender will win the big animation prize? I think so. Rango pushed some boundaries, since it’s really not that much of a kids film in the end. I’m kind of glad, there’s so many other companies besides Pixar and Dreamworks now which have some major talent going on- more great movies for us in the end!
Granted this is whether the Oscars nominate movies which DESERVE it to begin with. But certainly I can see this as deserving a nomination myself, and generally I’m not all that into Westerns. And I think the commitee might even like it.
(Yeah it’s a bit early and of course other contenders still to be seen, so sue me.)
But yeah I was worried of uncanny valley at first- but it didn’t happen or take me out of the story. Also it might be strange but it was interesting the fact they actually LOOKED like animals and thus not really attractive in most cases in terms of athesetics- but the animation worked well that way. They’re not SUPPOSED to be attractive like that and it seems more real in a sense. Interesting designs which seemed real but not really ‘pretty’ (if you understand what I’m getting at at all?)
I’m afraid to say it seems that Pixar and Dreamworks are not bringing their A-game this year. Of course, I could be prejudiced based on the fact that both of them are churning sequels and spin-offs at the moment (Puss in Boots movie for Dreamworks, Planes under Disney). Unless Cars 2 or Kung Fu Panda 2 really hit me emotionally, I doubt either of them will be ‘Oscar material’. Puss in Boots has a strong chance if they don’t hold back on the amazing possibilities they have with Puss’ origin story, especially since he’s so charismatic.
I’m not entirely sure if Rio will be as ‘highbrow’ as Rango was. I definitely will enjoy it (unless they pull a Scrat x Scratte ‘cop-out’), and I personally think this is a more original film than Newt (by original, I mean with setting, characters, and music).
Here’s how it would play out in my imaginary ideal Oscar world. Rango gets Best Feature Film (unless another movie like Sucker Punch or Pirates of the Carribean comes along and blows me away). Rio gets Best Animated Ghetto. Except I will be glad if Rio gets it, because so far it looks like a great animated movie. I keep scrolling through the trailers in slow-motion because I’m just amazed at the amount of squash-and-stretch and good ol’ fashioned Tex Avery antics goin’ on, but when you watch it in normal speed, it’s seamless. And the ‘readable’ body language and facial expressions of Blu and Jewel. That’s great animation. Not Madagascar or Kung Fu Panda’s over-the-top shennanigans, but something much more sophisticated than that.
Rango, on the other hand, is a whole new breed. Due to its emotion-capture unit, there are times you feel you’re watching a live-action movie. It’s not so much in the tradition of Tex Avery and Disney as more of in Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood. Rango’s on a different level, a higher playing field. And I think if this is the year that animation has its day, Rango should get it.
They look ‘ugly-attractive’, but their personalities won me over. Even the supporting characters feel like they have backstories (and they do, if you check out their bios on the official website). To me, the supporting cast feels more thought-out to me than the plethora of newbies Pixar seems to be throwing into Cars 2 and Dreamworks into Kung Fu Panda 2. Half of the newcomers are probably gonna appear for two minutes, played for laughs (“Oh look, he’s from Rearendia!”) and then disappear into the background.
Whereas with Rango, you gradually get to know more about the supporting cast the longer you spend time with them. The little details like Merrimack, the banker’s surrogate father-daughter relationship with Beans, or the animosity between Angelique (the Mayor’s ‘foxy’ assistant) and Beans, or Balthazar the mole’s bickering with his helpers. You felt they had HISTORY, and not just added into the movie simply for voice talent (“Oh look, Michelle Yeo is voicing a goat!”) or to attract a wider market (“There’s a car from my home country!”). The last time I felt this level of complexity with side characters was probably Cars (TS3 and HTTYD, though, left much to be desired to an extent).
Man, I was astounded by this movie. I’m having difficulty figuring out where to begin.
I know the word surreal gets tossed around a lot, but the best way to describe this movie is…surreal. It has its triumphant and comedic moments like all movies do, but at times I thought I was watching the work of Salvador Dali brought to life. The CG. Gah, the CG is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. It’s not a “pretty” movie per se but everything has so much texture, and the lighting… my sister was complaining that it was too gritty and nasty. It is a gritty western, but it’s not done without taste. The color palette changes quite frequently, too. It’s not a dull movie to look at despite its setting.
This is a daring movie. I have a hard time picturing other families watching this. Nothing really goes above the PG rating, but everything is so tense and often times nerve-wrecking for the main characters, I think it would leave the typical audience pretty perplexed. If they’re not open-minded. This really works in favour of the movie though. You can tell the filmmakers don’t want to pander to a specific audience, or age group, they just want to tell the story they want to tell. I have a lot of respect for them.
The story isn’t hard to follow. But it’s not as simple as it seems on the surface. The layers to it - the desperation of the townspeople, Rango trying to find out his identity - it’s actually quite complicated. And the rather psychological scene where [spoil]Rango appears to be at the end of his line, asking who he is and where he’ll go, when he hears advice.[/spoil] It’s just so bizarre but the more you think about it, the bigger appreciation you develop. The quirkiness occasionally reminded me of Fantastic Mr. Fox, but this movie has something going on its own. (I recommend that movie greatly to everyone, btw)
At first, I was a bit worried whether or not the visuals would sink into ‘Uncanny’ territory - but I was proven wrong. Everything had its own distinct look. The characters themselves each looked like caricature paintings.
I’m just amazed to see an American animation studio do something this absurd and out-there. It strays away from everything we’ve come to associate typical animated features with over here. And it doesn’t do it just for the sake of doing it.
I’d go as far as to say the only unpleasant part of my experience was hearing the complains from the rest of my family. They enjoyed it, but I was tired of hearing them. That’s the thing I don’t like about seeing non-Pixar (or Disney) movies with the rest of the family lately: they never seem to agree with me! Sis said she enjoyed the credits more than the movie itself…I guess I can’t blame her too much for that. The music and animation just blew me away. The movie frequently does these incredible things with the combination of visuals and sound, it makes it seem effortless. Well, I’d love to see Rango again sometime alone to catch all the details. There is so much going on in this movie and so many questions to ask myself while I watch it. It did feel a bit on the lengthy side, but justifiably so. This is a movie that is completely worth your time.
Seeing this movie was one of my high lights during Spring Break. I’m like seriously happy I saw it.
My favorite character was Rattlesnake Jake. I love rattlesnakes, so I’m a bit biased. But I thought he was extremely cool.
[spoil]“You sign the damn paper woman!”
“You go to Hell!”
“I am from Hell!”[/spoil]
Anyway, I loved how surreal it was, Leirin did a nice job summing that up above me, so I won’t go too much into it. I liked the feel of the movie. Rango’s journey as a hero was facinating to watch. I can’t wait for this to come out on DVD!
All I’m saying is KFP2, Cars 2, Rio, Winnie the Pooh. You are all at a disadvantage in a way, coming after a movie this great so early in the year. This was a perfect movie for me to start on my animation journey of 2011.
Oh, and here’s a neat mock poster I found on cracked.com . I loved all the Spaghetti Western References!
I’m glad to hear you guys enjoyed it! And I totally agree with all your sentiments!
EJE: I believe Jake’s retort was [spoil]“Where do you think I come from?”[/spoil]
Anyway, love the poster spoof. I need to watch ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ (the former had a line referring to bats, and of course, the Thompson cameo, while the latter played ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ during a helicopter aerial sequence).
Here’s two contrasting articles saying that Rango is ‘not for kids’. The first is obviously an *ss for bringing his three-year-old kid even after seeing the trailer and complains it from a ‘Don’t bring your kids’ angle. The second is kinder and argues in a positive sense that this is the long-awaited kick-in-the-nuts the industry needs. But the bottom line is, this is really one of the few animated movies exclusively for grown-ups!
Oh boy, you won’t believe how glad I am to hear that! Dang, if there’s ONE THING I loathe it’s that people claim animation is FOR KIDS. Dude.
And man, I hate those whiny mothers with their “oh my goodness i cant show this film to my brats else theyll grow up badly omg” whining… I mean, REALLY. Come on, people. Once they’ll have to learn about that!
They should’ve given Rango a higher rating, say, 12+, to avoid things like this. But noooo, let’s claim it’s all ages or 6+ because it’s “a kid’s movie” with “cute little talking animals”!
Dang you, Animation Age Ghetto! Dang you to heck! And back again!!1
On a more lighter note I’d better go look online to see where it’s showing.
Wow, ghetto much? The Dutch dub shows practically EVERYWHERE and the original only in two cities. Lame, cinema dudes. Really lame. Boo.
Here’s the original review sent to the editor (with the rating as requested):
They enjoyed it, but I was tired of hearing them. That’s the thing I don’t like about seeing non-Pixar (or Disney) movies with the rest of the family lately: they never seem to agree with me! Sis said she enjoyed the credits more than the movie itself…I guess I can’t blame her too much for that. The music and animation just blew me away. The movie frequently does these incredible things with the combination of visuals and sound, it makes it seem effortless. Well, I’d love to see Rango again sometime 
