Director: Gore Verbinski.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale, Helena Bonham Carter.
Running Time: 149 minutes.
Certificate: 12A.
Synopsis: Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice.
Gore Verbinski is the man behind the hugely successful PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN franchise which helped launch Johnny Depp as a viable blockbuster lead. Though it isn’t particularly surprising that the two chose to team up and tackle an adaptation of THE LONE RANGER, many feared their reunion would fall flat, and to some extent it does. The film may be average overall, but delivers great chemistry between the leads, some solid humour, and a great final set piece that unfortunately drags.
Sadly, Johnny Depp doesn’t delve hugely into new territory as Tonto. He’s solid as always, but he does seem to run on autopilot, tweaking his Jack Sparrow/Mad Hatter/Barnabas Collins character to fit. Armie Hammer, on the other hand, hugely delivers comedy and charm as John Reid, the district attorney who gets swept up in a conspiracy to capture Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner), seeing him forced to bend his ethics. The chemistry between Depp and Hammer is undeniable and their often-humorous exchanges lift the film.
One of the biggest issues with the film is that the visual effects are never overly convincing, which is a huge issue for a film that relies so heavily on them. It is often shockingly easy to tell where the CGI starts and stops (notably a scene featuring a herd of buffalo trampling past a train), making it hard to engage fully with the story. The story itself is thin and pretty uninteresting with its two and a half hour running time at least thirty minutes too long. Some of the film’s action sequences are also lacking, but it goes all out with a brilliant final set piece involving two trains and the famous ‘William Tell Overture’ that the 1930s radio series used as its theme.
The character development of John Reid, and to a lesser extent Tonto, is moderately well done. Focusing on the journey of Reid’s interpretation of the law and how it changes over the course of the film, this serves as the most interesting aspect of the story. The romance between Reid and his brother’s wife Rebecca (Ruth Wilson), however, is negligible as there just isn’t that much chemistry between the two – never mind the fact they don’t spend enough time on screen together to build up the relationship.
Compared to this year’s other summer blockbusters, THE LONE RANGER sits firmly in the middle; it’s not terrible by any stretch, but is not anything special, either. Armie Hammer is excellent, and if you need a reason to see the film, then it should be because of him. If you’re looking for a great script featuring a plot with even the smallest of surprises, then this is not for you.
THE LONE RANGER is released in UK cinemas on August 9th. It is currently out in US cinemas.
