Lizards Can Be Neurotic, Too

I have seen some very strange movies in my life, and several of them have starred Johnny Depp. I think about four people on the planet (three other people and me) saw Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, in which Johnny wandered the woods in a bearskin overcoat. Or how about The Brave, in which Johnny plays a Native American man who agrees to be tortured to death in a snuff film so that his wife can get paid $50,000? Did anyone but me catch that cinematic nugget? I thought not.

You have to admire anyone who makes the eccentric kind of career choices that Mr. Depp does. Some would say he’s fearless; others would say that for what he gets paid to make The Pirates of the Carribean movies, he can pretty much do whatever he wants to, and courage has nothing to do with it. Whatever the case may be, Mr. Depp is currently starring in Rango, an animated film about a lonely, existential lizard who loves Shakespeare.

Rango was written by John Logan, who also wrote Gladiator. Yes, you read that correctly: this animated Western/action/comedy about a thespian lizard was written by the same man who brought you Russell Crowe fighting for Joaquin Phoenix in a coliseum. Strange decisions are made in Hollywood all the time, but this one will go down as one of the strangest. I mean, an animated Clint Eastwood shows up in a golf cart.

I have absolutely no idea what this movie is supposed to be about, but I think I was being taught a lesson about never giving up, taking care of the people I care about, and not wasting water on developing Las Vegas. When I looked the film up on the Internet Movie Database, the plot keywords were “chameleon,” “parody,” “identity crisis,” “one word title” and “anthropomorphic animals.”

Indeed.

I will say this, however: the animation in Rango is breathtaking. I found myself marveling at the artistry of Industrial Light and Magic’s workmanship. The detail they have achieved in every single shot is truly impressive, and many of the scenes that take place outdoors, in the desert, are as realistic and beautiful as anything you would see in a live action film. Kudos, too, should be given to director Gore Verbinski for creating unusual, fun “camera angles.” There isn’t a single boring shot in the film.

Given the amount of violence, and the scariness of the villain, Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy), I wouldn’t recommend this movie for little kids. I would recommend, however, that adults have a couple of cocktails before they venture into Johnny Depp land this time. They might help the film make sense.

Two patches out of five.

Here’s what a couple of my fellow audience members had to say:

Clint Eastwood was the best part of that movie. —Chuck, Laguna Niguel

Johnny Depp was adorable! I would come see him in anything. —Linda, Laguna Niguel

I want to know who played the rattlesnake! —Tyler, Laguna Niguel