The Lone Ranger 2013 [Movie Review]

Our main cast... and Tim Burton's Wife?

 I've been putting off my review of this movie because of a variety of reasons.

Damn he's tall...

 But before we to the review lets do a short introductory plot synopsis.

The story of the Lone Ranger is told through the flashbacks of Tonto (Johnny Depp). Tonto begins the movie on display in a 'Wild West' exhibition at a fair where upon a young boy dressed in a mask, like the lone ranger, is surprised to find that not all the figures are fakes. The boy incredulous that Tonto is -that- Tonto, is told the Lone Ranger's origin story.

Now moving beyond the frame story. Our hero, John  Reid (Armie Hammer), is a lawyer returning from the east to his hometown on the as of yet unfinished Transcontiental Railroad. Unbeknownst to Reid, aboard the train are Tonto and Butch Cavendish. Butch's gang attacks the train, breaks him free (although he was already being helped), Tonto ends up in jail and Reid reunites with his brother, Dan, who immediately deputizes him so they can chase down Butch. Following so far?  

Butch Cavendish. Obvious Villian.

Oh yeah, he also reunites with Dan's wife, Rebecca (Ruth Wilson), creating a sorta love triangle thing. Maybe. Anyways... leaving Tonto in jail, the Reid brothers set off across the desert (which looks a lot like Utah, cause it is) with a sizable posse searching for Butch.

To wrap this up quickly, the posse is ambushed, everyone is killed other than John Reid, who is injured badly. Butch has a light lunch of Dan's heart. Tonto rescues John, who he calls Kemosabe. And off they go... the Lone Ranger is born. 

Deep conversation.

That covers the intro of the movie.

Now for my usual break down of the good and bad.  

I'll begin as I have before by numerating the flaws in the film.

- Frame Story: Not all frame stories are bad, some are very good, like the one in the Hobbit or the one from The Princess Bride. In the Hobbit, it really just frames the narrative, it begins and ends the tale, it does not jump in and interrupt the flow of the story. In The Princess Bride, it is used for humor, for exposition, and for actually framing the movie. In The Lone Ranger, the frame story was neither the nice simple framing of the Hobbit, nor did it pull off the timing and humor of The Princess Bride. At times it was actually jarring. You are watching a movie, you have already suspended your disbelief, you accept the occurrences on screen, you do not need a child breaking you from your suspense. At first you might even be tempted to accept Tonto's little scenes of 'Nature is out of Balance' as the quirks of story telling... yet the rabbits at the very end put this into question.

She appears to be wondering why she was in the movie.

- Forgettable Characters: The insane member of Butch Cavendish's gang who wears a bonnet had a longer lasting impression than Rebecca Reid did. Yeah, the sorta love interest, family ties interest... for a main character motivation, she did not come off as all that believable. A fact that our main hero seems to agree with in the very end.

What do you call a collection of prostitutes?

 - He's the Bad Guy! The Lone Ranger suffers from a common Hollywood malady I like to think of as Evil in the Open. TV Tropes calls this Devil in Plain Sight. You see there are two villians in The Lone Ranger, one is Obviously Evil, our Butch Cavendish. Meanwhile our other is a Villian with Good Publicity. And yet, you know almost at the very outset, the first time he opens his mouth that he is a Villian. Of course it will take our heroes over two hours to reach the same conclusion.

There's a lady on the moon in the cat house...

The scene from the trailer that no one forgets.

- Texas is NOT Utah! No seriously. I hate this motif in westerns that John Ford disseminated. Monument Valley is not the only place in the west. Stories told in Texas should not look like Utah. Of course... I could be nuts, since this might have taken place at Promontory Point, Utah. But if that's so... then why are Texas Ranger's there? You see why this is a problem? Our film takes place 'somewhere where Monument Valley & Texas Rangers, and the Comanche all live together.' (Take away Monument Valley, and the spike scene and it easily fits back in Texas.) These things bug me, because they take away my suspension of disbelief. When you start showing real places, but calling them other places... in a pseudo historical context... you lose me. Damn you John Ford.


Okay. Enough of the bad. Lets try for some good.

Bowler hats are cool.

- Anti-Corporatist Message. This I loved. The movie shows, not in the most subtle or thorough ways, the poisonous nature of corporatism. The treachery, the violence, the lust for power and money... This I liked. They could have done more with this, but they did enough... I guess.

- Johnny Depp. I'm not sure he's been in a movie I've seen him in since Sleepy Hollow, that he has not delivered a stellar performance. Not saying that Armie Hammer did not act well, he did a good job. Just simply put, he's not Johnny Depp.

- The Vileness of Subjugation & Racism Shown. The movie did spend some time showing how bad fear of the 'savages' could be, how exploited the immigrant laborers were (Chinese as was historically accurate, although I would have liked them to use the historical slang for them, Celestials), and how bad racism can get. It shows how people can use racism, specifically ignorance and stereotyping, to essentially motivate the army to wipe out innocent children. Did anyone else get the feeling this was talking a bit about the modern world? Yeah, me too.  

- The Extras. Soft spot for me. I have a friend who does extra work on historical movies, so I really enjoy watching the films to play the game of 'find my friend.' This time there were some excellent shots. So bonus points there.

I should also say that in general, westerns are never my cup of tea. I have a great deal of bias against them thanks to film school and John Ford (damn him). So keep that in mind.

If you like westerns, its worth seeing. If you like Johnny Depp its worth seeing.

The Lone Ranger (2013) gets:

3.0 Stars

Filmed in NM.