Rango - Movie Review - Maybe not for children

Rango is a movie about a suicidal chameleon that gets lost in the desert. He is a pet chameleon that fights boredom in his glass habitat by acting out scenes of chivalry and bravery. He is the director of these "plays" and gives insight to the inanimate objects that surround his abode. The scene changes abruptly when the car he is being transported in, runs into an armadillo and throws the chameleon and his tank into the burning asphalt of a road in the middle of a desert. The sun blazes and we begin hearing the songs of these little Mexican owls that sing throughout the movie speaking of the chameleon's certain death. The chameleon speaks with the armadillo roadkill who points the way to the nearest town. On the way he meets a possum type animal with a western dress and red curly hair. Her name is Beans. He then enters the cantina and decides to use his acting skills to play a tough guy. The chameleon has no name and chooses to call himself Rango when a crowd at the local "cantina" asks for his name. He gets the name from a bottle that says "Durango". The town is going through a drought and water is a precious commodity. Rango is made sheriff by the mayor after he accidentally kills the hawk that has been trying to eat him for a while now. As sheriff he leads a posse to figure out why there is no water. There are several high speed chases, and the animation is incredible. Maybe a bit too incredible. The creatures featured in this movie are very realistic looking and are a bit scary. All the animals look scruffy and dirty and some have very crude manners. Throughout the whole movie I was super thirsty due to how dusty and parched the whole scenery is. I was also a bit concerned with the mention of "cajones" and "huevos" several times. (In case you do not know, these are Spanish slang names for a specific male body part). There is a also very aggressive and violent snake that uses the word "damn" and the word "hell" is used three times by other characters. A desert toad looking thing also says "son of a b-" but the hawk shrieks to block out the ending of that word. There is also some racial stereotypes towards Mexicans and American Indians that are not funny. There is drinking, smoking and chewing of tobacco.

Overall, the animation was incredible and very detailed. The plot was a bit overused and didn't provide anything new and fresh. A neat aspect about the movie is that the actor's who played the voices of the characters not only provided their voices, but also acted out the scenes, including dressing up in western wear.

Rango is rated PG, but I believe due to its innuendos, stereotypes, scary characters, and language it should have a higher rating. This movie was marketed towards children, but I find that a child would be bored due to its lagging dialogs and maybe a bit scared by these "tortured" creatures. Also the foul language is inappropriate.

Running Time: 107 minutes

My Rating: 2 stars out of 10 - I only gave it that high of a rating because of the animation
Rami's Rating: 5 stars out of 10