Rango is yet another of the CGI animated films laden with Hollywood stars doing the voices of an array of cute, wholesome and box-office safe characters in a sentimental fable which designed to give simplified moral lessons,will leave you with a sickly sweet feeling in your stomach, not unlike eating too many marshmallows and topping it off with a shot of aftershock. Or so I feared in making my way into the screening. Two hours later I was completely converted, as even the film poster, which I had not seen before, let me hope, seeing its Hunter S. Thompson qualities which let you expect a surreal tale about the dark side of the American dream.
The film's main protagonist is a lizard, without a name, which coincidentally is wearing an exact copy of the Hawaiian shirt Dr. Gonzo was wearing in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The film opens with said lizard starring in his own play with a lead villain whose mechanic motions might very well be a comment on wooden Hollywood acting and a female lead which is more a bust than anything else as she is missing a head, or face. Here, Rango very cleverly plays on the dilemma even the method actors of the 50's were very well aware of, as if you can be anyone, any role, which one is you?
I almost feel silly to write it, but Rango is very much a film about existential self-reflection as it echoes both Camus and Sartre in its assumption that man, or indeed in this case, lizard is very much the sum of his/her/its actions, not so much the product of either name or upbringing. Our Camusian hero, then is a domesticated lizard who through a car accident is left to his fate in the middle of the Mojave desert. he comes across a very Homeric oracle in the form of road-kill, whose musings have the doped-up characteristics of a new-age Californian guru of the 70's while literally bumping into Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo from the aforementioned Fear and Loathing. Here, lies the main enjoyment of the film as its self-ironic nods to other films are skilfully woven into this Western-pastiche which refers to the likes of mostly Sergio Leone with its sun-drenched visuals and Ennio Morricone-inspired soundtrack.
The self-referential crux of the film is without a doubt to be found in the scene in which Rango meets the spirit of the West,a character clearly inspired by Clint Eastwood who hilariously makes his exit in a golf cart normally used on the set of film studios, while several what appear to be golden Academy Awards shimmer in the back of his cart. Rango furthermore plays on the similarities of certain genres as, for example, characters spoken by Timothy Olyphant remind us of HBO's brilliant series about the real West Deadwood, while the thugs, one of them spoken by the ultimate Gangster number one Ray Winstone evoke the gangster thriller which essentially builds on the same foundations as the Western. As such, Rango ironically mirrors the canon of Hollywood blockbusters while never descending into the easy option of making the film a mere spoof.
Surrealist dream-sequences and scenes bordering on absurdity such as a series of desert creature riding what appear to be chicken would in any other animated film feel contrived and gimmicky, in Rango, however they work flawlessly, a merit which can unquestionably be attributed to the film's aesthetics.
The film's main protagonist is a lizard, without a name, which coincidentally is wearing an exact copy of the Hawaiian shirt Dr. Gonzo was wearing in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The film opens with said lizard starring in his own play with a lead villain whose mechanic motions might very well be a comment on wooden Hollywood acting and a female lead which is more a bust than anything else as she is missing a head, or face. Here, Rango very cleverly plays on the dilemma even the method actors of the 50's were very well aware of, as if you can be anyone, any role, which one is you?
I almost feel silly to write it, but Rango is very much a film about existential self-reflection as it echoes both Camus and Sartre in its assumption that man, or indeed in this case, lizard is very much the sum of his/her/its actions, not so much the product of either name or upbringing. Our Camusian hero, then is a domesticated lizard who through a car accident is left to his fate in the middle of the Mojave desert. he comes across a very Homeric oracle in the form of road-kill, whose musings have the doped-up characteristics of a new-age Californian guru of the 70's while literally bumping into Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo from the aforementioned Fear and Loathing. Here, lies the main enjoyment of the film as its self-ironic nods to other films are skilfully woven into this Western-pastiche which refers to the likes of mostly Sergio Leone with its sun-drenched visuals and Ennio Morricone-inspired soundtrack.
The self-referential crux of the film is without a doubt to be found in the scene in which Rango meets the spirit of the West,a character clearly inspired by Clint Eastwood who hilariously makes his exit in a golf cart normally used on the set of film studios, while several what appear to be golden Academy Awards shimmer in the back of his cart. Rango furthermore plays on the similarities of certain genres as, for example, characters spoken by Timothy Olyphant remind us of HBO's brilliant series about the real West Deadwood, while the thugs, one of them spoken by the ultimate Gangster number one Ray Winstone evoke the gangster thriller which essentially builds on the same foundations as the Western. As such, Rango ironically mirrors the canon of Hollywood blockbusters while never descending into the easy option of making the film a mere spoof.
Surrealist dream-sequences and scenes bordering on absurdity such as a series of desert creature riding what appear to be chicken would in any other animated film feel contrived and gimmicky, in Rango, however they work flawlessly, a merit which can unquestionably be attributed to the film's aesthetics.
The fact that Rango reminded me uncannily of True Grit came as no surprise as the end credits list Roger Deakins as visual advisor, the latter being the main photographer on the Coens' latest piece. Especially the colours, plain and brown, almost as if seen through a sepia filter give Rango an anachronistic feel, otherwise found in the gritty, dusty, down-to-earth Western of the 70's rather than the polished and often glorified grandeur of, let's say, a John Ford cinematography.
The animation of the characters is of mind-blowing quality as each hair on theses furry companions gently flutters in the wind, while details such as wind-chimes made from broken bottles not only reinforce the film's main theme, which is water shortage in the desert, essentially a not so veiled allegory of the industrialised West exploiting third world countries, but furthermore is of such convincing discernible delicacy, it makes you forget you're watching an animation, which is what good animation conclusively does,: make you forget it's there, not make you notice how well-made it is.
The animation of the characters is of mind-blowing quality as each hair on theses furry companions gently flutters in the wind, while details such as wind-chimes made from broken bottles not only reinforce the film's main theme, which is water shortage in the desert, essentially a not so veiled allegory of the industrialised West exploiting third world countries, but furthermore is of such convincing discernible delicacy, it makes you forget you're watching an animation, which is what good animation conclusively does,: make you forget it's there, not make you notice how well-made it is.
Even though Rango is essentially marketed as a children's film, there was not one child to be seen at my screening. It has all the qualities a good children's film should have, it's often fast paced and has certain slapstick elements while never being patronising in tone or content, but in the end I'm not sure parents will not enjoy Rango more than their offspring, as, for example, I'm not sure how a five-year-old will enjoy the Cubist dream sequence from the beginning, or react to the slightly sinister undertone that runs through the film. I, for once, will from now on keep my animation-related prejudices at bay as some marshmallows seem to have true grit.
No comments:
Post a Comment