This post is kind of a spoiler; if you intend to go to Rango (the new cartoon starring Johnny Depp as a chameleon), skip it.
Ebert gives the film a glowing review, and as a family we had a deep need to get everyone into the theatre, so there we were. We loves ourselves some cinema.
The general family review was "cute, but've seen better." The six-year-old appeared bored at times.
I've got to remind myself to read my other go-to critic, Peter Travers, when Ebert raves, and vice-versa.
Wait for the video if your kids will allow it. Adults without young kids can skip it altogether.
Originally, I was just going to post the above, and not give away the best line in case you decide to see it, but since Travers gives away the best line in his review, I'm going to as well.
The plot is straight-up hero's journey fare. When all appears lost, our hero wanders into the desert and meets God ("the spirit of the west" in the film's nomenclature), who is in the form of Clint Eastwood piloting a golf cart. When our hero asks if he's in heaven, the Great Spirit responds:
If this was heaven, kid, we'd all be eating Pop-Tarts with Kim Novak.
That floored the adult portion of the audience. I still chuckle when I think of it.
I will be sure to use that at parties this summer.
5 comments:
Thanx! I'll see the film.
Joel
"That was a bad idea," kept me giggling, even after the credits were done.
Did you notice they never really utilized the gag about the chick who kept freezing in a fear reaction?
It was a shaggy story all the way around, wasn't it? I'm surprised Ebert didn't pick up on that. There was also some cognitive dissonance with the whole six-shooter and land-development setting. If frogs are developing suburbs in the desert, and crows are shooting Winchester rifles ... who did this lizard belong to when he fell off the truck? And while the texture to the aesthetic was state-of-the-art, I was frequently checking my feelings of revulsion. It was like watching The Garbage Pail Kids come to life.
Still, it was an entertaining enough flick. I didn't begrudge the bucks or time.
I was a bit shocked by the ugly and overly-detailed character design, too. What is the point, really, of being able to see every blood vessel in the heroine's big, glassy eyes?
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