Dull drama for ‘The Lone Ranger’

For all of its action and adventure sequences, Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger comes off as a little dull.

In this big screen adaptation of the classic TV show, Armie Hammer (The Social Network, Mirror Mirror) plays the Lone Ranger, a.k.a. John Reid, and Johnny Depp plays Tonto.

In this telling of the story, Reid is left for dead in the Texas desert and found by Tonto, who nurses him back to health. Reid’s brother was killed in the desert massacre, and he teams up with Tonto to track down those responsible, becoming the Lone Ranger to preserve the thought that he’s actually dead.

Typically, the Lone Ranger is the straight man to Tonto’s outrageous behavior, and while a few scenes suggest this, the balance between who’s who in this film is off and switches at the drop of a hat.

As someone who favors Depp right along with most of the world, the expectation was to see him shine and give a delightfully over-the-top performance a la Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Depp is not up to his zaniest tricks as Tonto in The Lone Ranger, one of the large factors in contributing to the film’s dullness.

In addition to the misuse of him, there’s Helena Bonham Carter, also known for her delightfully over-the-top roles (in some of the same films as Depp), who is only featured in two sequences in a rather lackluster, almost cheap way.

As far as the plot goes, it’s fairly typical of this genre and also very predictable. The bad guys are the bad guys and the good guys are the good guys, all of which is made pretty clear from the film’s start, despite some “twists” it tries to throw in during the last half.

The best thing about the Pirates movies (of which Verbinski directed three), which yes, have declined as the franchise has moved on, is their subtle humor and over-the-top performances.

The Lone Ranger flips that by drowning its talented performers in crass humor. The whole movie amounts to a bunch of cheap gags, predictable plot points and not much more.

If you’re looking for a Western starring Depp and directed by Verbinski, you’re better off renting Rango, a 2011 animated film that was absolutely wonderful.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on July 18, 2013. Filed under Arts and Entertainment,Columns,Movie Reviews,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry