FILM REVIEW: The Lone Ranger

While many critics have been quick to condemn The Lone Ranger, it’s actually an enjoyable film if you just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Created by a similar team who worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Gore Verbinski’s western epic is an action-packed adventure—albeit with a dry script and long running time.

Johnny Depp’s Tonto is the main focal point of the film, with Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger playing a second, but amusing, fiddle.

There are many similarities between Depp’s portrayal of the Comanche and that of Jack Sparrow. While it may seem like more of the same from the aging actor, it’s hard not to smile at his delivery of humorous lines and his physical comedy.

Verbinski frames the film using a flashback device. The film starts in 1933 with an aged Tonto narrating the story to a child at a sideshow in San Francisco.

Then it’s back to Colorado, 1869, where a city-educated lawyer John Reid (Armie Hammer) is returning home with some prisoners—including rumoured cannibal Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner)—and Tonto. Here after it is a game of cat and mouse with the roles of jailer and prisoner continually reversed.

Yes, the film has many action scenes—some unnecessary—but it’s all part of the adventure. Among all the action there are also some serious moments with the film touching on the genocide of American Indians. A flashback into Tonto’s past is not only visually-stunning but also emotional.

The final train action sequence is thoroughly enjoyable, and finally sees the arrival of the theme song to the classic 1950s TV series.

The story is predictable at times, but the action sequences and Depp and Hammer’s amusing antics makes sure that The Lone Ranger’s move to the big screen isn’t a flop and what’s more allows enjoyment for a new generation.

by Isabella Pittaway

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