Rating of
2.5/4
Lone Ranger Rides Again... to Middling Results
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/06/13
Johnny Depp has pretty much made a career out of playing misfit characters. From Edward Scissorhands to Ed Wood to Captain Jack Sparrow - pretty much every role is something a bit off center. But lately, Depp has found out that quirky doesn't necessarily mean success. Alice in Wonderland was merely adequate, Dark Shadows was a letdown but if anyone could bring Depp back it would be Gore Verbinski - the man who gave us arguably the most memorable character in year in the aforementioned Jack Sparrow. And I'm guessing that Disney was hoping Lone Ranger was going to be another successful franchise like Pirates.
Yet Lone Ranger is no Pirates. They follow roughly the same outline but is doesn't have that spark. For one thing, Armie Hammer (who has done great in supporting roles) just doesn't fill the role of the Lone Ranger as well as I hoped. He reminded me a lot of Brandon Routh as Superman - he looked great for the part, but fell a bit flat. Plus his romance with Rebecca (played by Ruth Wilson) felt nearly like an afterthought thrown in to have a female part other than Helena Bonham Carter (who, I admit, stole the scenes she was in as an ivory-legged madame). But everything can't be blamed on Hammer.
Depp himself felt like a conundrum. Although the part had humor, at other times Tonto was kind of a too crazy for his own good. Where Jack Sparrow works because he has bravad mixed in with a dash of flamboyance - Tonto is just plain unhinged. And given his dark back story - it's to be expected. And darkness is all over Lone Ranger. For a film that's rated PG-13, it may have shied away from a lot of blood - but it wasn't afraid to show some wholesale slaughter that, when coupled with some of the tongue-in-cheek references, just was a weird combination.
The other main issue was the running time that, clocking in at over two hours, felt like it was that long. You just don't get lost in this movie and hence I found myself checking the time. That's not to say the film didn't have its moments. The train sequence at the end of the film was pretty astounding - exciting and a lot of fun - but these moments were too few and far between. Plus, the juxtaposition between laughing and the sudden violence is just off-putting.
The problem with Lone Ranger is that it's just trying to do too much for one film. Plus, in looking forward to a potential franchise, they forgot to make the first film more memorable. Lone Ranger is average at best - not a bad film, just not one that deserves a sequel.
