Rango Review

Rango

Release Date: 10th March 2011 – Australia


Production Companies 
Industrial Light & Magic

Blind Wink

GK Films

Nickelodeon Movies

Distribution
Paramount Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family/

Western

Rating: PG

Runtime: 107 minutes

Budget: $135,000,000

Box Office Gross: $245,724,603 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
A lonesome chameleon named Rango has no clue who he is and searches the desert for answers. He assumes a lawman's role

in a town facing a water

crisis. However, he realises

he is way over his head

when he discovers a

conspiracy that could

endanger it. Can Rango unravel this scheme, learn the meaning of friendship and bring back the town's missing water?

Cast
Johnny Depp – Rango/Lars
Isla Fisher – Beans
Abigail Breslin – Priscilla

Ned Beatty – Mayor
Alfred Molina – Roadkill
Bill Nighy – Rattlesnake Jake
Harry Dean Stanton – Balthazar
Ray Winstone – Bad Bill
Timothy Olyphant – Spirit of the West
Stephen Root – Doc/

Merrimack/Mr. Snuggles

Claudia Black – Angelique
Ian Abercrombie – Ambrose
Gil Birmingham – Wounded Bird
James Ward Byrkit – Waffles/

Gordy/Papa Joad/Cousin Murt/

Curlie/Knife Attacker/Rodent Kid
Blake Clark – Buford
Lew Temple – Furgus
Alex Manugian – Spoons
Joe Nunez – Rockeye
John Cothran Jr. – Elgin

Patrika Darbo – Delilah/Maybelle

George DelHoyo – Senor Flan –

Mariachi Accordion

Maile Flanagan – Lucky

Charles Fleischer – Elbows

Beth Grant – Bonnie

Ryan Grant – Jedidiah

Vincent Kartheiser – Ezekiel/

Lasso Rodent

Hemky Madera – Chorizo

Alex Manugian – Spoons

Mark 'Crash' McCreery – Parsons

Joe Nunez – Rock-Eye

Christopher Lee Parson – Hazel Moats/

Kinski/Stump/Clinker/Lenny/

Boseefus/Dirt Kid

Lew Temple – Furgus/Hitch

Alanna Ubach – Boo/Cletus/Fresca/

Miss Daisy

Gore Verbinski – Sergeant Turley/

Crevice/Slim/Lupe – Mariachi Violin

Kym Whitley – Melonee

Keith Campbell – Sod Buster

Crew
Story/Producer/Director – Gore Verbinski
Story/Screenplay – John Logan
Story/Storyboard Artist/Character Designer –

James Ward Byrkit

Executive Producer – Tim Headington

Consulting Producers – Mark Bakshi
and Nils Peyron
Producers – Graham King and John B. Carls

Co-Producers – Shari Henson

and Adam Cramer

Co-Producer/Character Designer –

David Shannon

Casting Director – Denise Chaiman

Production Designer/Character Designer/

Visual Effects – Mark 'Crash' McCreery

Conceptual Artists – James Carson

and Jim Martin

Concept Artists – Christian Alzmann,

Devon Cutler, John Giang and

Romerick Jeanne
Supervising Art Director – John Bell

Art Director – Aaron McBride
Character Designers – David Shannon

and Eugene Yelchin

Set Decorator: Emotion Capture Unit –

Rosemary Brundenberg

Property Master: Emotion Capture Unit –

Kris Peck

Props: Emotion Capture Unit – Harry Lu

Cinematography Consultant – Roger Deakins

Camera Operator: Emotion Capture Unit –

Martin Schaer

Unit Production Manager/First Assistant

Director: Emotion Capture Unit – Adam Somner

Stunt Coordinator - Keith Campbell

Visual Effects Supervisors – Tim Alexander
and John Knoll
Animation Director – Hal T. Hickel

Associate Animation Supervisor – Kevin Martel

Digital Production Supervisor – Michael Bauer

CG Supervisors – Kevin Sprout,

Raul Essig, Leandro Estebecorena and

Pat Conran

CG Supervisors: ILM – Thomas Fejes,

Gerald Gutschmidt, Polly Ing, David Meny,

Patrick T. Myers and Nigel Sumner

Character CG Supervisor: ILM – Michael Koperwas

Character & Simulations Supervisor – James Tooley

Character Modeling Supervisor – Geoff Campbell

Hard Surface Model Supervisor – Russell Paul

Texture Supervisor – Steve Walton

Environment Supervisor – Andrew Proctor

Compositing Leads: ILM – Tami Carter,

Peter Chesloff, David Gottlieb,

Robert Hoffmeister, Jen Howard,

Dorne Huebler, Francois Lambert, Tory Mercer,

Jerry Sells, Chad Taylor, Todd Vaziri,

Jeff Wozniak and Scott Younkin

Lighting Sequence Supervisors: ILM –

Matthieu Boucher, Steve Braggs,

Amelia Chenoweth, Jay Cooper,

Christian Foucher, Jeff Hatchel, Tom Martinek,

Akira Orikasa and John Walker

Film Editor – Craig Wood

Additional Editors – Tom Barrett and

Wyatt Jones
Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor –

Peter Miller

Supervising Sound Editor – Addison Teague

Supervising Dialogue Editor – Michael Silvers

Additional ADR Editor – Richard Hymns

Sound Mixer: Emotion Capture Unit – Lee Orloff

Re-Recording Mixers – Christopher Boyes

and Paul Massey

Foley Artists – Dennie Thorpe and Jana Vance
Music – Hans Zimmer

Foley Mixer – Frank Rinella

Music Arrangers – Lorne Balfe,
Tom Gire, Michael A. Levine,

Dominic Lewis, Atli Ōrvarsson, Adam Peters,

John Sponsler and Geoff Zanelli
Music Arranger/Musician: Guitar –

Heitor Pereria

Music Consultant – Bob Badami

Music Recordist and Mixer – Alan Meyerson


Awards

2012 Academy Awards
Best Animated Feature – Gore Verbinski (Won)


Review

RANGO is an animated Blazing Saddles type of comedy that, in a way, has never been conceived before. The visual effects house ILM must have given Pixar, Blue Sky, Disney and DreamWorks a run for their money in producing this rootin'-tootin' animated feature. Though RANGO's plot is nothing new, considering that it's a parody/homage to the classic westerns mixed with a fish-out-of-water concept, it's good that they've had to put a fresh spin on it. Despite how dark this film could get, it's not exactly a family picture. Gore Verbinski has never tackled an animated movie like this. He has only shifted from genre to genre through horror, comedy and adventure as he did in The Ring and the first three Pirates of the Caribbean instalments.

The animation is realistic but comparable to those features from either Disney, Pixar or any other animation studio. I praise Johnny Depp for his voice performance as Rango because he is wonderfully hilarious and stands out among a stellar cast. Bill Nighy is perfect as Rattlesnake Jake. Isla Fisher knows how to pull a Southern accent when cast as Beans. Everyone else, including Ned Beatty, was also terrific in their roles. The action scenes are well done and have perfect timing. Hans Zimmer has again triumphed with a score that never fails.

RANGO is a good movie with intriguing animation and sharp humour. I was pleasantly surprised that RANGO won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It was a highlight for me this year. If you feel like seeing this film, you'll not regret it.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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