The Lone Ranger

"Hi-Yo Silver, Away!" A battle cry made famous by the Lone Ranger radio show of yester-year. How does this staple of American entertainment fair though, when turned into a big budget blockbuster?

 The Lone Ranger tells the Story of John Reid and Tonto, who have vows of revenge on the same men, for their own different reasons. After an ambush left his enemies assuming him dead, John dons a mask and pursues his enemies, seeking to bring them to justice.

 I was worried about this movie before there was even trailers for it, because it has been quite some time since I have seen Johnny Depp play the traditional role of a supporting actor, he usually plays lead and that's what people want to see him as. Well it turns out I had a right to be worried.

 The acting was...well it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I have seen better performances from all of the billed cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Will Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, and even Helena Bonham Carter. I never became emotionally invested in any character. Now the lack of emotional depth though, is not something that rests solely on the actors' shoulders, but writers as well.

 Writing is where this movie truly makes its swan dive off of a cliff. As I said, I was worried before about Depp being billed as one of the most famous side-kicks of all time, and it was justified, because this movie, in its essence, was "Tonto: with special guest, The Lone Ranger". Almost all of the heavy lines were given to Depp, and while they shared the screen time equally, Tonto usually upstaged the Ranger. Not only this, but with the subject matter, there was an opportunity to make something really special, since The Lone Ranger is really the superhero for the wild west, and could have merged those genres for a great mix. Instead, the movie turned out to be closer to a comedy, with the story floundering awkwardly when Tonto wasn't making some sort of joke. It very much felt like the writers/director (Gore Verbinski) really wanted an excuse to see a Native American Captain Jack Sparrow, though replacing his affection for rum with an unhealthy affection for a dead bird, which was a plot point that's only value was for a repeated punchline force fed to the audience.

 The cinematography was really the singular saving grace of the movie. It did a good job capturing the feel of a western, very warm environmental colors, but muted and natural colors for anything man made.

Final Judgement:

With a script secreted by some of the same people who beat us to death with the Pirates movies, this movie was never destined to be original...or enjoyable. An icon that has touched every medium of American culture was done a great disservice, and basically was put in the side-car to a bird loving mental patient. There was never any emotion invested in the characters because they were all too busy trying to get screen time with Tonto to make a joke about the bird. My serious recommendation is to avoid this in theaters, avoid redbox and pay-per-view...if you really want to see this movie, wait for netflix to carry it, you won't feel as cheated out of your money.

Score: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆