The Lone Ranger (2013)

Movie Info

Silver…you are a bigger star that the Lone Ranger here

A young boy finds an old man (Johnny Depp) living on the grounds of a carnival who claims to be the legendary Tonto.  Through his tale, Tonto tells the legend of the Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer), and how John Reid was transformed into the rebel lawman.  A major railroad is passing through Indian territory, and fears of a rebellion are popping up.  When his brother is killed in his quest for the truth, John Reid is shot down and left for dead.  John Reid is reborn, and with Tonto as his unwanted guide, the Lone Ranger is out for justice!

This doesn’t happen to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!

Directed by Gore Verbinski, The Lone Ranger was a big screen adaptation of the classic radio and TV series which ran in multiple forms since 1933.  The movie was widely panned upon its release and the makers of the film including Johnny Depp accused critics of judging the film before seeing it.  The movie was a massive bomb at the box office but did receive nominations for Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visuals Effects…on the flipside it also won a Razzie nominations for Worst Prequel, Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel with nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Depp), Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay.

Yeah, Mr. Lone Ranger…I’m the star here!!!

I heard a lot of people comparing The Lone Ranger to John Carter…which I did enjoy.  John Carter had an unfortunate marketing and a doomed release.  The Lone Ranger, however, did have a bunch of problems…it looked good, but I found it rather long and tedious.

The story has a weird framework.  It has an old and teetering Johnny Depp (really overacting) telling the story to a boy in 1933.  The story then is the origin of the Lone Ranger who has a more antagonistic relationship with Tonto and a convoluted story of silver mines and trains.  It is also hindered by the classic too big of star cast in a minor role so you know immediately who the villain was going to be (Tom Wilkinson).

What, lady? You husband just died valiantly…and now you are hooking up with his brother? Classy!

The cast really struggles through this movie.  It almost feels like Will Smith’s Wild Wild West where everyone just felt out of place.  Armie Hammer might have been an ok lead but the movie really catered to Johnny Depp as Tonto in the hopes of getting another Jack Sparrow type character out of him…it doesn’t work.  Other characters like Helena Bonham Carter, Barry Pepper, and William Fichtner never develop enough.  I also find it a bit weird that Hammer’s brother’s wife played by Ruth Wilson gets over her husband so quickly and falls for the Lone Ranger…I know they were supposed to have a relationship before, but it still is a bit tacky.

I say we play on these trains for another hour…

The movie does look quite good.  Johnny Depp’s make-up was good but there was too much Depp.  There is a lot of action, a lot of adventure, and lot and lots of train scenes…too many train scenes.  I wanted more Lone Ranger from the Lone Ranger…It was a nice homage to the old series when Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” showed up.  The spirit at that point in the movie is what the whole picture needed.

The Lone Ranger failed but it had good reason to fail…it really wasn’t that good of a movie.  Was it as bad as it was made out to be?  No, not really, but I don’t think that the movie was anything more than average (and too long).  With the movie’s failure, I don’t think we’ll be seeing the Lone Ranger riding again soon…but with Hollywood as it is, we could have another Lone Ranger in a year or so.

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