Movie Review #62: The Lone Ranger (2013)

Why am I reviewing a movie that came out almost two months ago? I figured that since I start school on tuesday, this would be my last chance to go see a movie in theaters to review. And since The Lone Ranger only just came to my local theater, the stars have alined for this to happen.

In The Lone Ranger, an older Tonto tells the story of the Lone Ranger of how he came to be and the adventures he had.

Contrary to some people, I am a fan of Gore Verbenski's films. Curse of the Black Pearl is one of my favorite action films of the new millennium. I also like Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. So when I heard he was going to make a big screen adaptation of The Lone Ranger, I was excited because he would be making another western and his first western was Rango which I completely adore. But then the reviews came pouring in claiming this to be a huge turkey. This made me put off seeing it until now. So I went in hoping to get at least something like a western Pirates of the Caribbean. And did I get that? At times yes, but with the good parts there is most definitely bad.

Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger was actually one of the biggest issues I had with the movie. In the original Lone Ranger TV show, he was always the main character and Tonto was his sidekick. It rarely felt like that. I like Armie Hammer, but I don't think that he has grown enough as an actor to play a lead. Especially in a movie like this. Now you might say that Johnny Depp just stole the show. I disagree because look how his name is listed first on the poster above. You could say because he is the more well known name, but I say that the script was written with the intention that Tonto would be the lead instead of The Lone Ranger. It's like how in the Transformers cartoon it focused on the robots. But in the live action Michael Bay movies, the focus was towards the humans and the Transformers were supporting characters. That's not how it should be. For Transformers or The Lone Ranger.

My biggest issues with Johnny Depp is that he is playing Captain Jack Sparrow only coated a different layer of white makeup. Hopefully in the future he will get to do more roles like Public Enemies where he actually gets to give a serious performance.

The only character that I really dug was William Fichtner was the villain Butch Cavendish. I got behind him as a villain because he was really entertaining and menacing and the scenes he's in aren't cartoony. William Fichtner is an actor that has a recognizable face but you don't know his name. He might even end up being the only good part about the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie!

The runtime could have been shortened by at least 30 minutes. At times it was kind of boring. There are some elements of the film that could have been cut out because the story is very large and some of the story arcs could have been done without.

On a technical level, The Lone Ranger does not disappoint at all. The $210,000,000 budget is very evident on screen because the action set pieces are well crafted and highly entertaining. The last 20 minutes were the best part of the film because the William Tell Overture played and the finale began with a train chase sequence that had me smiling from beginning to end.

Final Report: While The Lone Ranger isn't in the running for best movie of the year, it isn't the worst of the year by any means. If you are going to see this, either see it at the budget theater or wait to rent. It definitely isn't Wild Wild West 2 by any means!