Johnny Depp plays the title character, a chameleon. Actually the character is unnamed but takes on the pseudonym Rango. He is a city slicker lizard who lives in a beachy terrarium and questioning his existence as his human family crossing the desert. When due to accidental circumstance he is stranded in the desert, his existential search leads him to the town of Dirt, where the old timey western denizens are parched and the most valuable commodity is water.
Rango finds himself out of place but ready to realize a bigger persona than he has had up til then. He helps the townfolk defeat the baddie whom as we expect has been hoarding water from them.
The bones of the story are quite conventional: a (literal) little guy tells tall tales about himself, pretending to be something grander than he is. The town believes in him and believes he is their salvation. When they need him most he is exposed for a sham. But, he finds redemption and becomes the savior he didn't think he or they thought he could be. A typical western plot.
What sets this above other animated movies:
Voice work--Johnny Depp really brings a range to his character. There are times when you forget it is him. He often has this twitchy persona in his film work that is not evident here, probably because he is not on screen. He is supported by a stellar cast of ACTORS--not "stars du jour"--get these names: Alfred Molina. Harry Dean Stanton. Stephen Root. Bill Nighy. Ned Beatty. Ian Abercrombie. Abigail Breslin. Timothy Olyphant. Ray Winstone. The least tested actor in my opinion, Isla Fisher, was even good as the heroine/love interest. They all play character types, but not in a kitschy way or pandering to a child audience (although one of the producing studios is Nickelodeon). They are not there to be cute animals or a gimmick like Avatar. I don't mind if actors from SNL or NBC comedies are used for animated voicework, but they often don't have VOICES that inhabit a persona that you can imagine for the characters. Who is this film being cast for? Not children.
Animation--Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas' company, did a lot of the animation special effects, but I don't know who was the main company (I think it was a company called DW). Whoever did the animation though brought such great detail to the various desert animals, both in creating their various features, as well as their animal personalities. Closeups, backgrounds and small details are not forgotten. You can see every scale and hair. Lip movement would be my only very minor complaint but I don't think anyone has really mastered that in the animation world. There is a sequence near the end as a depressed Rango walks in the desert night which is pretty nice. Anyway, animators have hit one out of the park in my opinion. There is also a new production company called Blind Wink whose only credit is Rango, so they did pretty well for a first effort too, whatever their involvement was.
Story/script--The basic story as I said is standard but is a time-tested western plot that is more about the characters than the action. Yes, there were kids in the audience, and everyone (like me) will assume it is a kids' movie, but the details really make this a story to be appreciated by adults as well as film afficionados. It references Apocalypse Now, Raising Arizona, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, spaghetti westerns, and probably more "adult" movies than I could spot at one viewing. There is dialogue using wordplay and wit that kids will not know about or understand.
Music and cinematography--By Hans Zimmer and Roger Deakins, respectively. For an ANIMATED movie (although I know I derided Avatar for cinematography).
I think this was an Oscar worthy film, and deserved its award.
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