The Lone Ranger

Starring: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Ruth Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale, Barry Pepper
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Western
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Armie Hammer) left for dead reluctantly teams with an unstable Indian (Johnny Depp) to bring justice to the West.

Review:

Tim: It's a little difficult to describe exactly why The Lone Ranger didn't work. That isn't to say I have no idea why- I know exactly why the movie was so disappointing. The difficulty comes in explaining everything that was wrong with this movie, and in what priority the flaws pile up. I feel bad, because this film was made with good intentions. It unfortunately just didn't work out well.

The first issue with this film is the length. There's absolutely no reason for this movie to clock in at 149 minutes. That is way, way too long. It almost borders on arrogance. This bloated film desperately needed some edits. The first thing that could have been cut was the absurd scenes with a very old Johnny Depp (featuring bad makeup) telling his story to the little boy. Can someone please explain to me why this was included in the final cut? It detracts from the entire story because we are constantly reminded that the events of the film happened a long time ago, and obviously, Tonto comes out of it just fine. It ruined any sense of intrigue or suspense the film had. This felt to me like it was included just to give Johnny Depp more screen time. That leads to the next big issue.

The next big issue is the ego of Johnny Depp. I was a huge Depp fan back when everyone counted him out and he somehow managed to achieve major Hollywood success without compromising himself. His story was great. Now, though, I feel like Hollywood caters to his zany personality. More and more and more Depp is not the answer. It really hurt the last three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and was one reason I so disliked Alice in Wonderland. In this story, The Lone Ranger should come first. But of course, we can't have that! Not when the great Johnny Depp is playing Tonto. Tonto's role was vastly increased, to the point where he overshadows the Lone Ranger. That hurt the movie. These scenes of old Johnny Depp were completely unnecessary, but Depp needs his screen time, so let's include them. Depp needed to be a supporting character, not the main character. That was a major detriment to the entire film.

Depp is fine, but this isn't his best performance or his best character. I thought Armie Hammer was okay as the Lone Ranger, but he was trying too hard and his comedic timing wasn't nearly as good as it could have been. William Fichtner made a fairly compelling villain. I was really glad to see Tom Wilkinson, but I wish his character hadn't been so incredibly obvious. Helena Bonham Carter added nothing at all to the film. The cast as a whole was a bit disappointing.

Gore Verbinski is a competent director, but he let this one get away from him. There are some great moments and great scenes, but these aren't enough to overcome the flaws. The film borrows too heavily from other films and unfolds almost exactly as you might expect. There's no real surprises and it's far too predictable. The special effects were pretty good throughout. The cinematography was occasionally breathtaking and it reminded me how desperately we need good Westerns from Hollywood.

I wanted to like The Lone Ranger. We need more big budget, action-packed franchises. Unfortunately, this movie hit the wrong notes and never presented a truly compelling story. So many of the jokes fell flat (the horse gag was never funny for a moment) and the movie just never hit its stride. A lot of money was sunk into this film, and it bombed at the box office for a reason. This just isn't a very good movie at all.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Pirates of the Caribbean, Cowboys & Aliens, The Social Network, Alice in Wonderland