Review: The Lone Ranger

By. Joe Moss

★★★

One thing’s for certain, this ain’t your grandparents’ Lone Ranger.

Gore Verbinski’s “The Lone Ranger” has much of the dry, slap-stick that made his “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy so entertaining (and box office successes) yet it somehow falls just a little flat this time around in a wild, wild west setting. Does it follow the basic premise of the Lone Ranger saga as begun on the radio in 1933? Yes. Does it have larger than life antics that burst forth and draw the imagination? Yes.  Does the story-line mirror antics of most spaghetti westerns from which the TV series drew inspiration? Yes. The screenplay as written by Justin Haythe and Ted Elliot [with contributions from Terry Rossio] is spot on with all of these stereotypical intricacies but tweaked for the more modern audience—and yet [I reiterate] the acting still falls just a little flat.

One major problem that forces the audience toward confusion is HOW the story is told in a series of flashbacks from the point of view of Tonto. The film is actually set at a carnival in San Francisco during 1933 (yes…an homage to the radio show). A child (Mason Elston Cook) wanders into a Wild West side show where he is startled by a mannequin that suddenly appears to come alive. This mannequin is an ancient Tonto (Johnny Depp) mistaking the boy for his ‘kemosabe.’ The boy starts to ask questions and Tonto begins to recount the tale of the Lone Ranger as a flashback to 1869 Colby, Texas.

Johnny Depp’s interpretation of Tonto is very quirky—almost in the vein of his Captain Jack Sparrow character from the Pirates films. He addles on in broken English about Indian folklore, "nature not in balance," and constantly toys with this supposed dead bird resting on his head. All of this starts to make the audience think he is crazy—but this is the point. We are lead to believe all of this only for the entire plot to come full circle at the end. Tonto’s main role as the protagonist in the film is to guide the Ranger on the right path toward true justice. However, justice in the West lay in confusing shades of grey rather than the simple black and white of the law books that John Reid/The Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer) is well versed in as an Ivy League educated lawyer of a Texas ranger legacy family.

Armie Hammer (The Social Network; Mirror, Mirror) has great presence on screen, and I feel that his delivery was very believable. He comes across as a man thrust into many unknowns who is thoroughly confused. In the course of the film, we grow with him as he learns to adapt to a road of vengeance that leads to justice for those who betrayed his family, killed his brother and kidnapped his sister-in-law/ex-girlfriend (Ruth Wilson) and his nephew (Bryant Prince). While he does not play the role as a suave James Bond-esc ranger, we need to remember that this is a story that was originally written to appeal to children and teenagers. In this regards, I thinks it fits the bill.

NOW there are a few things that don’t set well with the script that definitely reboot the story from the old into a new generation. Rabid, carnivorous jack-rabbits with fang-like incisors [remember, “nature is definitely out of balance’ ~ Tonto]; horses that stand on tree branches in cowboy hats; a one-legged madam (Helena Bonham Carter) who helps save the day; and a cannibalistic villain in Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner). The latter being the most outlandish and that which I feel strays the film/story-line most from its roots into true moments of bipolarism.

While some may not like that the film does not open to the Lone Ranger theme (aka the William Tell Overture), I love that they waited until the climatic sequences to play that iconic piece of music. I was overtly clapping as it played. I had been waiting patiently (as they teased us with a few notes at the beginning) and felt they sprung the music at the exact moment that the story lapsed back into a more expected Lone Ranger style sequence reminiscent to that which everyone grew up--many explosions, a plethora of gun shots (from where do all the bullets get reloaded?), trains and horses running a muck.

And lastly, the much expected “Hi-ho Silver, away” is FINALLY said at the end of the movie only to be poo-pooed by Tonto as ridiculous. “Never say that again.” While some may not like this interplay, I actually guffawed whole-heartedly (and probably rather loudly from the looks I received). I rather enjoyed the dry humor associated with the script, but I can understand how this may not set well with everyone.

In a nutshell, I truly enjoyed the film and would watch it again!! It may not be the children’s version of “The Lone Ranger” that everyone was expecting from Disney, but they have definitely left us hanging ready for a new trilogy if…. And that’s a big if.

PS. there is an Easter egg in the credits, but once you see it start, nothing new happens but more of the same to the end of the credits. Don’t waste your time (as I did) sitting there for something extravagant…it never comes.