Rango (2011)

I love animated movies, really I do, but in recent years I've found that the vast majority of them don't half give me a headache. Common sense dictates that this is because I'm growing older and more sensible (read: boring), but I genuinely believe the films have changed as much as I have. Granted, technology has advanced, but tastes have changed, too; far be it from me to side with the luddites, but I do think that attention spans have grown shorter while moviemakers remain inclined to cater to the lowest common denominator. Don't get me wrong, there's good work going on out there - Despicable Me and the Kung Fu Panda films spring to mind, with their endless warmheartedness and focus on the personalities - but in general, the trend runs towards the hypersaturated and hyperactive. For all the inventiveness of the likes of Wreck-It Ralph, these are films I often have to psych myself up to view more than once.

Step forward Rango, then, to remind me that my inner child hasn't quite died of malnutrition yet. It's a lovely, inventive piece of storytelling that reinvents the Baron Munchausen myth and transports it to the Wild West, as our chameleonic hero (literally) finds himself hit by a car and sent flying from his solitary existence into the drought-ravaged town of Dirt.

Unused to company other than his own and that of the broken plastic toys he keeps as friends, Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) finds himself in the presence of people who ain't none too keen on strangers. In desperation, he uses his knack for drama and storytelling to invent himself as a mysterious gunslinger, but of course, his lies backfire on him - this is a kids' movie, and so some things are a given. Before long, he finds himself charged with solving the mystery of the drought, save the town and winning the heart of the lovely - read: similarly-sized and aged - Beans (Isla Fisher).

The good

As previously stated, this is a lot easier on the retina than the majority of modern mainstream CGI movies. It takes its cues from classic Westerns, faded and muted and occasionally bleached to a blinding white. Backgrounds and scenery tend towards photorealism, which is something you can afford to do in a film with animal protagonists; if humans had appeared in more than one or two clever cameos we might have been in uncanny valley territory, but the grotesquerie of the characters establishes that we're in a different world, and not one that might ever be confused with our own.

This grotesquerie extends to the vocal work, too - this isn't a subtle film, not by any means, and the broad humour is lent flavour by a bunch of tough guys and character-piece experts clearly having the time of their lives. Left to do his thing, Depp is appealing, while Fisher shows a charming willingness to abandon her dignity and throw herself into one of the most thankless love interest roles in recent history. Inevitably, though, my favourite performance was Bill Nighy's Rattlesnake Jake, a snarling, moustachioed menace far too tough to ever need to raise his voice.

What I really love about Rango, though, is that it isn't afraid to show its intelligence. It's a kids' film - at least, I'd hope so, with all the scatological humour - but one that isn't afraid to reference Hunter S Thompson and Apocalypse Now. It's not afraid to ease up on the pace, either, and devote a few minutes to Rango riffing with a plastic fish or having a philosophical conversation with Roadkill the dead armadillo. None of which is to say that the action scenes aren't excellent, as Rango flees from a horde of bat-riding hillbillies or repeatedly tries to outwit a red-tailed hawk.

The bad

I say this is a smart film for smart kids, you might say this is a film in search of an audience. If you did, I'd say you lacked a certain faith in humanity, but I'm not sure I'd entirely blame you. I won't deny that some of the humour was a little broad for my taste, but I seriously doubt anybody's going to be remaking The Thick Of It  with CGI animals any time soon, no matter how persuasive emails I send to Nickelodeon and Armando Iannuci might be.

The verdict

It's a good movie, and you should probably take a look, especially if you like Westerns. I'd say more, but I'm too busy being amused by the thought of Peter Capaldi as a honey badger.