Film Review - The Lone Ranger

This is a fun western, it's the kind of role that Johnny Depp excels at playing and his portrayal of Tonto is quite amusing. Don't get me wrong, this is far from a great film, but it is a very entertaining one. It's very slap stick in nature which does sit at odds on some of the more serious parts of the film.

It would be wrong to think of this as a comedy, it has its funny parts, but it's more of a western with some humour in it than a straight action comedy.

The story is fairly basic, a brother returns when a notorious outlaw escapes custody and joins the manhunt to recapture the criminal. The posse are ambushed and all but the brother are killed, he is rescued by Tonto and a rather amazing horse (who has some fun moments in the film) and becomes the lone ranger as part of his quest for justice.

The film is well shot and while it's reasonably long it doesn't feel drawn out. Special mention should be made for the finale which is one of the silliest and impressive I've seen in a while. There's a lot of fun here, just don't expect anything too serious.

Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer star in this action Western from Walt Disney Pictures, directed and co-produced by Gore Verbinski. Native American Tonto (Depp) tells the story of how lawman John Reid (Hammer) became the legendary, masked figure known as The Lone Ranger. Tonto first encounters Reid when captured outlaw Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) escapes custody, aided by his gang. Joining a group of Texas Rangers that include his brother Dan (James Badge Dale), Reid chases the wanted men but becomes the sole survivor of an ambush attack. Disguising himself from his enemies, who believe him to be dead, The Lone Ranger forms an unlikely partnership with Tonto and together they fight for justice against Cavendish and power-hungry railroad tycoon Latham Cole (Tom Wilkinson).

The Lone Ranger is available from Amazon (and is an entertaining watch)