Quick Review: Lone Ranger

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner
Genre: Western Action
Year: 2013
Run Time: 149 minutes
How: In Theaters

The Lone Ranger had a fair amount of hype leading up to its release, and why not? It was just Disney's latest 225 million dollar movie. Now 2 weeks later, it is destined to be one of the biggest flops since John Carter.

The Lone Ranger is undoubtedly a visually appealing and spectacular in terms of special effects, but it suffers greatly from a story that just seems to drag on for ever. It takes an hour for Armie Hammer (insert ridiculous name joke here) to even put on the iconic mask. At two and a half hours long, the film often seems bogged down scenes that have little bearing on the story itself (ie. The young boy talking to Tonto in the museum through out) most of which could have been cut without the movie losing any substance.  

One of the few bright spots in the movie is Johnny Depp, who is good for a laugh several times throughout, though it some times feel like Tonto is just a Comanche Captain Jack Sparrow. This is unfortunately is countered by the rest of the cast both absurd and cliched. Helena Bonham Carter is the same character she often does only this time she a old western madame who just happens to have a gun in her prosthetic leg. While William Fichtner is Butch Cavendish, complete with cross dressing gang of dim wits.  Cavendish is like a bad bond villain, who both monologues and should have been killed on 4 separate occasions yet never seems to die.   

All said and done, this movie was definitely a bold follow up for Verbinski and Pirates of The Caribbian but I'm not sure it paid off. There is a fair amount of bad but its not all unwatchable. If your looking for a long, throwback complete with more than its share of train wrecks, gun play and explosions and less story, then your in luck.

Rating 3.9/10