Andy Gapin

Rango is an animated film that brings us something a little different than other animated films have brought to theaters, Johnny Depp having an existential crisis. This fact alone pushes the film closer to an adult movie than a kids movie, but luckily for children, this starts off heavy in the beginning, but then lightens up a little to a level more palatable to kids.

This flick is a lot of fun, but it’s no secret that I rarely dislike animated films. I’m not sure if an animated film can count as a western, but if it does, you can count this as two westerns in a row that I’ve seen and loved. Though, this and that other western are quite different. Rango is a lot of fun and has a some great laughs in it–I actually wasn’t the giggliest one in the theater for once–but it also gets down to business a bit too.

I found there to be nothing not to like about Rango, I enjoyed Depp’s voice-acting quite a bit and at times felt myself lost in the detail of the animation which reaches levels close to what Pixar is able to pull off.

All in all, Rango is a great film and even though it’s over an hour and forty-five minutes, it doesn’t feel long. Check it out.

Rating: A

I’m disappointed. Alice In Wonderland wasn’t what I wanted it to be and I think Tim Burton is to blame. I never thought I’d ever say that, I generally love Tim Burton’s work, but this didn’t do it for me. It almost felt like Burton half-assed it instead of pushing himself forward and beyond previous work. Alice in Wonderland felt less like him adapting his style to the story and more like him adapting the story to a summation of is entire cinematic career over the last twenty or so years.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it, but I’ve been waiting for this movie for a long time and I wanted more. The visuals looked great, but they didn’t look new or original or inspiring or anything that you would expect from Tim Burton.

Both Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway were weak as well, not terrible, but not what we’ve all come to expect. I can’t put my finger on what was off, but it wasn’t all there, even though I think Johnny Depp is the perfect casting choice for Mad Hatter. However, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen was the one strong point to this film. The tones in her voice and her facial expressions were perfect and her scenes were both interesting and funny in the exact way that I wanted the entire film to match with.

Also, Hatter’s “futterwacken” dance was just weird and didn’t feel like it belonged with the rest of the film.

Rating: C