I went to see the Lone Ranger this weekend and, I must confess, initially, my thoughts were not only little bias, but skeptical as well. After all, as a kid growing up during the 60’s, not only did I watch the animated Saturday morning series aired from September 1966 to September 1969, but the 1950’s black and white series featuring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels during the afternoons.
The reason for my skepticism was simple, at least to me. Can Disney pull off having a prominent actor such Johnny Deep casted as sidekick Tonto and Armie Hammer, who I’ve never heard of before, as the main character? In the 50′s television series Silverheels certainly did a fine job in the supporting role. Yet, without any doubt you knew Moore was clearly the dominate character. Thus, my fear was the Hammer’s Lone Ranger would somehow be overshadowed by Depp’s Tonto. Surprisingly, while Depp acting ability and Hollywood stature certainly gave more respect to Tonto character, he did not overshadow and diminished the role of the Lone Ranger as I feared. In fact, Depp, capturing some of the essence of Jack Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, made it a fun film to watch.
Both Depp and Hammer make an appealing pair. Providing a somewhat unconventional look at the Lone Ranger legend, Armie Hammer plays attorney John Reid on his way to home to Colby, Texas. Actor William Fichtner plays the villain Butch Cavendish, who escapes while being transported to Texas to be hanged. Lead by Reid’s brother, the Texas Rangers give chase and were subsequently ambushed. John Reid is the only survivor and is nursed back to health by the fugitive Indian, who also on his way to be hanged, Tonto. Both Tonto and the Reid, who now dons the Lone Ranger mask, go after the Cavendish gang.
Honestly, there are plenty of justifiable criticisms for this movie. There are indeed some not so funny parts and wasted scenes. For instance, there are the seemingly violent and aggressive rabbits, who by the way add absolutely no value to the movie and other scenes that seem to drag on at times. Yet, in the end I found the film very entertaining, cleverly done, and for those that remembered the Saturday afternoon Long Ranger TV series, pleasantly nostalgic. Besides, this isn’t a movie for critics. It’s for those of us that love to collect Lone Ranger memorabilia, have an open weekend schedule and frankly just looking for a two and half hour epic good time.