Starring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Apparently convinced that no one was going to take The Lone Ranger seriously in this day and age, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski (the men behind the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) decided they werent obligated to either.
With the exaggerated performances and over-the-top action, theres often the sense that Verbinski is trying to create a live-action cartoon. (Hes already directed one legitimate animated Western: 2011s wildly entertaining Rango.) And while the classic William Tell Overture theme music certainly lends itself well to these antic aspirations Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Rides Again employed the same composition the inclusion of sequences that see a Comanche tribe mowed down by a Gatling gun reduce the movie to a tonal nightmare. Furthermore, the running time seems to have ballooned to two-and-a-half hours purely because no one had a clear concept of exactly what they hoped to achieve here.
The one thing they do seem set on is that they arent particularly comfortable having The Lone Ranger (played with a blend of self-deprecation and square-jawed swagger by Armie Hammer) feature too prominently in a film bearing his name. Consequently, Tonto is elevated from noble sidekick to clowning costar, allowing another opportunity to admire how Johnny Depp continues to convince both audiences and the suits cutting the cheques that mugging + makeup = acting.
There is, of course, an overly-convoluted storyline here concerning the outlaw Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner). Theres also the odd moment that dazzles. However, the movies highlights are eclipsed by its unseemly excess. All told, its too much of a not particularly good thing.
