Rango

Johnny Depp has given us memorable characters such as Captain Jack Sparrow, Sweeney Todd and now follows them up with a brilliant performance as Rango.  Rango is a lizard who is used to the life of luxury within his tank but has to face up to hard times when his life of a sheltered pet chameleon accidently comes to an end when he falls out of his tank on a highway and finds himself stranded in Dirt.  A town in the Wild West.

Pampered but not entirely useless, Rango fortuitously manages to defeat the feared hawk that has been terrorising the town and it lands him the job as sheriff.  Relishing the role, the actor in him rises to the occasion and he embellishes his role by pretending to be a feared gunfighter.  But it’s not long before it all goes awry when the town turns to him to sort out their water problems and an adversary in the shape of a land baron forms.

Rango is a good fun animation with plenty of humour and a good but simple plot that everybody can follow.  Despite not being on screen himself, Johnny Depp makes the character his own and his timing is perfect.  Adults will certainly take more out of Rango than children will and parents be warned, there is a darker element to Rango than most animations and characters do perish.