The Lone Ranger

**_The two protagonists win the day in this amusing, dramatic and thrilling Western_** The so-called 'lone ranger,' John Reid (Armie Hammer), and his Comanche companion, Tonto (Johnny Depp), seek to bring the notorious Butch Cavendish to justice (William Fichtner). Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter are on hand in periphery roles. "The Lone Ranger" (2013) surprisingly finds an agreeable balance between comedy, drama and wild action. What especially makes it work are the two leads: Depp is magnetic and interesting as Tonto while Hammer is likable as the Lone Ranger. The format of the elderly Tonto chronicling events from decades earlier is reminiscent of "Little Big Man" (1970), not to mention the mixed tone. There are also nods to other notable Westerns, like the music straight from "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968). One of the best bits is when the Lone Ranger exuberantly exclaims, "Hi ho Silver, away!" to which Tonto responds in a flat voice, "Don't ever do that again." Speaking of Tonto, his iconic 'look' (with a stuffed crow on his head) was based on a painting by Kirby Sattler called "I Am Crow" (Google it). If you like movies like "The Mask of Zorro" (1998), the underrated "The Musketeer" (2001), the Indiana Jones flicks and the aforementioned "Little Big Man" you'll probably appreciate "The Lone Ranger." It's superior to any of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" flicks IMHO and I find Tonto a more interesting character than Jack Sparrow. The film runs 2 hours, 30 minutes, and was shot in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, California and Texas. GRADE: B

This should survive the test of time. The Lone Ranger and Tonto set out to do good. We get a look at the origins of the Lone Ranger. And most of it is told by Tonto (Johnny Depp in a role that is actually well done). I'm not fond of the many flashbacks, but that's just me. Other than that, the flashbacks are well pieced together into a story, and the story is well molded together. I prefer just an up front telling of the story. That would have given this a higher rating from me, but that's just me. As of now, this movie gets a lot of hate, and there's no understanding for the reason, other than simple contrariness. It isn't "formula" enough for most critics. Still, this film has a lot going for it. The Lone Ranger goes through a lot of turmoil, and he is quite likable in a rogue sort of way. This film is probably more than half comedy. It has more comedy than "Raiders of the Lost Ark" for example, though not as much as "Romancing the Stone", although it comes closer to "Romancing the Stone" in comedy. A lot of this film goes into the supernatural, which is good for the legend of the Lone Ranger. The "theatrics" aren't bought by today's spoiled brats very much, but it looks like a film that will survive the test of time if Western culture stops taking backsteps out of civilization and moves forward. It's just not negative enough for the Beavis and Butthead crowd of today's culture.

Relegated to a fun-fair exhibit, "Tonto" (Johnny Depp) regales a young visitor with tales of his adventures with the eponymous, somewhat green and naive, lawyer "John Reid" (Armie Hammer). It all started when "Tonto" rescues "Reid" after he was ambushed by the nasty "Butch Cavendish" (William Fichtner). Together with his famed white horse they now set out to right this wrong and bring this evil man to justice. What now ensues just isn't very good. It's a sort of loosely hung together series of escapades with the easy enough on the eye Hammer just far too lightweight to bring even a modicum of charisma to the role. Depp is just recreating his "Jack Sparrow" characterisation - just with a white pained face; and the adventure elements are predictable and frankly rather dull. It has an almost slapstick nature to it; the dialogue tries to be pithy but in the end depends too much on the style of delivery from Depp - and I found that style repetitive and unimaginative. It culminates quite entertainingly, to be fair, but this film is just way too dependant on one single character and it just didn't work well for me. At just shy of 2½ hours, it is far too long too. Maybe 45 minutes less with more emphasis on the action and a better screenplay might have helped, but as it is - this is a long, empty, watch that borders on the spoof. Fans of Depp may well disagree, but for the rest of us this is merely a vehicle for him - and not a very good one at that.