Stars Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale and Helena Bonham Carter Directed by Gore Verbinski The star, director and producer of the Pirates of The Caribbean main trilogy (yeah, not counting On Stranger Tides) are back with another rollicking romp of an adventure. Or so it might seem. Don't get me wrong, the element of fun is there. The sense of adventure is evident. Johnny Depp putting in another odd turn is always fun. Even Hans Zimmer is in on the fun channeling the stylings of the Pirates score with some jaunty bits from Sherlock Holmes while adding a few new percussive motifs. Why, he even pulls out the William Tell Overture for the hero theme. And the bloated storyline seems more obvious than before what with the just under two and a half hour run time. Upon some examination, it feels like the writers (Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot also from the Pirates of The Caribbean series, along with Justin Haythe) started at the end, and then filled in the blanks of why those characters are there. It's the only reason I can think of for having Helena Bonham Carter's character, a madame called Red Harrington, in the story and why she has a wooden leg; to serve a pivotal moment and nothing else. Also fairly distracting from the fun, and serving no real purpose except maybe to show off the nastiness of the villain, Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner), is said villain's predilection for cannibalism. A small bit of nastiness that does feel out of place within the scope of the story. If he really needed to be that kind of nasty, why not have him shoot a pet dog or something in that area, even if it is off screen. There's no real notion as to why Cavendish has to be like that. In the world of The Lone Ranger, we already have our good guys and our bad guys. The pulpiness of the adventure is such that going to that extreme wasn't really necessary. Pushing that bit aside, the narrative conceit of having an aged Tonto relating the tale to a young kid might give a reason for having a wholly different take on the legendary character. We're getting the origin story, but from the perspective of Tonto, who might even be an unreliable narrator as it is. It would give an excuses for any plot holes and odd deviations, and Depp does pull it all off rather well. The wilder card might have been Armie Hammer as John Reid, our titular hero. Hammer manages to deliver a performance not unlike what he did in Mirror, Mirror (a constantly underrated movie), delivering a character who is not entirely a goof and driven by his sense of idealism. It is a characteristic that puts him at odds with Tonto, as both seek out Cavendish for justice. But each of them have a different sense of justice. So, this is a buddy movie with to polar opposites having to work together. However, Hammer delivers the goods as he slowly, and occasionally painfully, learns the ways of the west, and the need for the mask. So much so that by the time that bit of music rolls through the finale, we know the hero has arrived (albeit fairly delayed). While Johnny Depp leads the cast and Armie Hammer dons the white hat, it's likely that the star that steals the movie is the horse that ultimately gets named Silver. As Tonto keeps saying, "Something very wrong with that horse." Most of the elements that might be considered to be part of the Lone Ranger mythology do pop up, and in that, the filmmakers do deliver a Lone Ranger adventure. if you're expecting anything of the old serials, TV show or books, you might end up complaining of the things that have been changed or updated. Depp's take on Tonto might even be considered controversial by some, but it serves the story here. Sill, it is fun, entertaining and the action gives us some of the more spectacular set-pieces of this summer season. The humour works in most parts with more hits than misses. The cinematography is lush with its epic widescreen shots. While the Pirates trilogy was more of an ensemble with Depp occasionally stealing scenes, this one is more Depp's movie and everyone is supporting it very gamely. And the horse steals a few scenes. It just didn't need to be this long where the story is concerned.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2017
|