This movie has a lot going for it, but the sum total of its parts somehow just doesn’t make up the best whole that it could be. Definitely not Bryan Singer’s best.

The story is a good reimagining of the Jack And The Beanstalk fairytale with a well thought out mythology and back-story. The premise is fairly gritty and deliciously dark, but there in lies the rub. The treatment feels a little inconsistent at times when the dialogue or costuming (The human General for instance) goes camp and “fairytale-ish” instead of what they seemed to set out to do. You don’t quite know if they were going for a good fantasy action drama or a halfway decent action romantic comedy. Good movies mix and balance all the elements, but this one feels schizophrenic. The action is good, but the some of the gags are brilliant while others feel forced and the romance is spotty at best, which is strange considering at its core it is a boy meets girl movie.

The movie does have a really dynamic visual style and the integration of live action and CGI is smooth and organically believable. The scale and grandeur of the effects also does not overshadow the character relationships, but instead embellishes and supports them. The 3-D is subtle and part of the movie not just a technical add-on.

The cast is multi-generational with up-and-comers Nicholas Hoult and Eleanor Tomlinson and veterans like Ian McShane, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsen and the voice of Bill Nigh, which is just perfect for the villainous General Fallon. Did not quite feel the chemistry between the two young leads at times, which added to the inconsistent feel of the movie.

It is entertaining and unique with one of the cleverest, slickest endings ever for a “fantasy” movie. The action is an intense, visual splendor, but in the end it lacks something and ended up feeling like a bunch of really well done set pieces sloppily strung together. It is worth watching on the big screen because of its scale (pun intended), but not a must see, unfortunately. It will end up in my DVD collection eventually (I do so like my fantasy movies), but only when the price is right.

Breaking this down, the animation is a refreshing taste of purified water…not rusty city fluids.  It’s a Nickelodeon branded film and doesn’t cut corners to make a absolutely lovable animation tale.  A quirky chameleon with and identity crisis equals a prophecy for a wonderful theme at the end.  Johnny Depp plays this much better than his latest roles as the same old Tim Burton mortified character.  He’s a wildly ambitious, goofball heroine.  Very wonderful.

Laughs run amuck, ranging from kiddie slap stick jokes to adultish punch lines.  The whole rythym of the movie is so wonderfully paced that the 100ish minutes flies by rather quickly.  I’ll be giddy and share what threw this over the top; the tendency to display subtle metaphors on the screen, like the ever common frame to display Rango as someone in a movie motion picture.  Or there’s the Spirit of the Wild West who adds a pleasant iconic shock to the story, yet reveals important dialogue. 

So it’s deep, delicious, and devilishly amusing.  I chalk this up as a potential classic that can be archived as greatness.  I remark this again and again as a movie with high replayability, and doesn’t get old as you go on.  Even if you think its humor is dry (pun), please enjoy the dramatic portions and its artistic production.  “Rango” is just so out of the box with its style, movement, music, and meaning.  Definitely ends a drought of Disney/Pixar animation films that sat on the throne for so long. 

10/10  PG