Rango (2011): forgivably formulaic fun with lizards and guns

Rango was very entertaining.  There were a few belly-laugh moments for me, which is what I was hoping for.  The action and romance plots intertwined in a classic but original way and there was more than enough quirky style to keep things fresh.

There were a few moments of adult humour (the prostate joke comes to mind) handled cleverly enough so as to coast easily over the kids’ heads and keep the adults sniggering away - as is somewhat conventional for this kind of animated feature nowadays.  I’m not sure when this clever duality of adult and childish humour originated, but it’s certainly very prominent in contemporary films like Rango, Toy Story, Monsters Versus Aliens, etc.  It’s a feature that always drives me to animated films and something which I think will come to define this type of film.  I’m not entirely convinced this feature is even exclusive to animation, rather it’s just somehow more noticeable.

Rango was a lot like Monsters Inc., I immediately thought.  There were a few similarities and in this sense it seems formulaic.  The mayor character was quite like the company owner in Monsters: a bureaucratic fatcat who conserves a corrupt system for the apparent good of the people.  They’ve both also got slimy, formidable henchmen: in Rango it’s Rattlesnake Jake, in Monsters it’s Randall the chameleon-like lizard monster.  The plot is similar in that it follows a story of the feeble yet heroic protagonists’ efforts to uncover a conspiracy and save the day thus.

Cinematically, the film also pays tribute to film history.  It appears  obviously reminiscent of Western genre greats like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone.  Not to mention the tip of the cap to Fear and Loathing.

This breed of animated features endeavours to appeal to a mixture of demographics, not just age but cultures and nationalities (Shrek and Disney-Pixar’s upcoming Brave bring the world a little slice of Scottish culture, for example).   Films like these seem to adopt a formulaic approach in order to ensure global and trans-demographic popular success.   Often very classical and accessible, Rango is testament to the fact that films like this can be both somewhat formulaic and highly original and stylised.  Altogether entertaining, well-designed care-free cinema.