The Lone Ranger (2013)
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 149m
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Ruth Wilson, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter
Synopsis:
The brother of a Texas Ranger returns home to the arid town of Colby in Comanche territory, just as a dangerous prisoner is being transported for execution there. The latter's escape, and the interest of an eccentric Indian captive, lead him subsequently to disguise his identity beneath a mask and uncover a lethal plot by the Transcontinental railroad representative.
Review:
Key props (a pocket watch), borderline supernatural adventure and an oddball characterisation from Mr Depp place us firmly in Verbinski/Pirates territory, and while these elements undeniably add energy and intrigue to the familiar settings and situations, the results barely gel as a whole. A lack of chemistry between the leads, added to a mutual contempt and mistrust written into the screenplay, hardly helps, and the borrowing of a chunk of the plot of Once upon a Time in the West, together with other stylistic homages to that film, remind one uncomfortably of greater things. The film was something of a flop for Disney, who had spent a good deal of money on staging many of the stunts for real and using a number of different locations (leading to some not very integrated internal geography), and unhappily, in spite of the incidental pleasure of Depp's performance, it once again demonstrates the limited returns from taking the Western down the path of Wild Wild West and, dare I say it, Lucky Luke.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 149m
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Ruth Wilson, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter
Synopsis:
The brother of a Texas Ranger returns home to the arid town of Colby in Comanche territory, just as a dangerous prisoner is being transported for execution there. The latter's escape, and the interest of an eccentric Indian captive, lead him subsequently to disguise his identity beneath a mask and uncover a lethal plot by the Transcontinental railroad representative.
Review:
Key props (a pocket watch), borderline supernatural adventure and an oddball characterisation from Mr Depp place us firmly in Verbinski/Pirates territory, and while these elements undeniably add energy and intrigue to the familiar settings and situations, the results barely gel as a whole. A lack of chemistry between the leads, added to a mutual contempt and mistrust written into the screenplay, hardly helps, and the borrowing of a chunk of the plot of Once upon a Time in the West, together with other stylistic homages to that film, remind one uncomfortably of greater things. The film was something of a flop for Disney, who had spent a good deal of money on staging many of the stunts for real and using a number of different locations (leading to some not very integrated internal geography), and unhappily, in spite of the incidental pleasure of Depp's performance, it once again demonstrates the limited returns from taking the Western down the path of Wild Wild West and, dare I say it, Lucky Luke.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 149m
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Ruth Wilson, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter
Synopsis:
The brother of a Texas Ranger returns home to the arid town of Colby in Comanche territory, just as a dangerous prisoner is being transported for execution there. The latter's escape, and the interest of an eccentric Indian captive, lead him subsequently to disguise his identity beneath a mask and uncover a lethal plot by the Transcontinental railroad representative.
Review:
Key props (a pocket watch), borderline supernatural adventure and an oddball characterisation from Mr Depp place us firmly in Verbinski/Pirates territory, and while these elements undeniably add energy and intrigue to the familiar settings and situations, the results barely gel as a whole. A lack of chemistry between the leads, added to a mutual contempt and mistrust written into the screenplay, hardly helps, and the borrowing of a chunk of the plot of Once upon a Time in the West, together with other stylistic homages to that film, remind one uncomfortably of greater things. The film was something of a flop for Disney, who had spent a good deal of money on staging many of the stunts for real and using a number of different locations (leading to some not very integrated internal geography), and unhappily, in spite of the incidental pleasure of Depp's performance, it once again demonstrates the limited returns from taking the Western down the path of Wild Wild West and, dare I say it, Lucky Luke.