Recently, we wrote an article entitled “Eleven Photos of Johnny Depp looking different but playing the same character” and unfortunately, this represents his career at present. Depp has suffered incredibly from his working relationship with Tim Burton over the years. Although initially, it was successful, there were films that many just loved, Edward Scissorhands perhaps being the greatest, but then we realised that Depp was slowly being shut into a box marked “reasonably crazy.” Unfortunately for both Depp and Burton, it is almost like neither of them have had an original idea in over 20 years.
Then came Jack Sparrow. The exhausting, drunk, mess that was Jack Sparrow. Years later we are still praying for an end to the bottle of rum and the insult that is Pirates of the Caribbean. There is no need to point at critics to blame them for the bad reviews Johnny, you have done this all by yourself. There’s a simple word we would like you to incorporate in your meetings for roles in the future, simply “no”.
However, that said, the Lone Ranger is not as bad as critics are making it out to be. Based on the popular iconic character of the Lone Ranger and his Indian friend Tonto who fight injustice in the American Old West, the series first started as a radio show before hitting the small screen and is immediately recognisable by the William Tell Overture, which was an important part of the show as was the declaration of “Hi-Yo! Silver! Away!” which the Lone Ranger would shout at his horse.
It was only a matter of time before we saw another interpretation of the Lone Ranger story (there had been one as recently as 2003) but no one expected just how much money was going to be thrown at this one.
Set in the American Old West, an elderly Tonto tells the story of John Reid, better known as the Lone Ranger, to a young boy, beginning with how he met Reid on a train which was transporting a wanted man, Butch Cavendish. Following the criminal’s escape from the train, Reid sets out with his brother and some Texas Rangers to find him, only to be ambushed and left for dead. When found by Tonto, he is good as dead, but a horse appears in front of the grave, prompting to the Indian to believe that Reid is a brave warrior.
The pair join forces to hunt down Cavendish, both for killing Reid’s brother and for his crimes against Tonto, which he keeps closely guarded. However, Tonto insists that Reid keep his mask as those who ambushed him thinks he is dead and this can only work to his advantage. Their quest to find Cavendish, of course, brings the pair closer, and soon they realise they can learn a lot from each other.
Do not believe the critics who are ripping this apart limb from limb, believe us, Pirates 4 was a much bigger mess than this, but then again the Lone Ranger isn’t far behind it. The running time is far, far too long considering this will be mainly be aimed at children, and it is completely over-inflated and over-dramatic. The greatest sequence in the film comes near enough to the end when you actually feel like you should be taking a nap. The entire affair would have benefited from twenty minutes, at least, being cut from the running time.
There have been complaints that Tonto was not played by an Indian and we would have to side with that, basically this is Captain Jack Sparrow returned from the dead as an Indian. Depp must have been delighted that he barely had to prepare for the role, it does the original character a disservice and is another slap in the face for Depp fans who are finding it more difficult to defend him on a daily basis.
Hammer is fine, Wilson is fine, the best character is a horse that occasionally doesn’t really look like a horse. Helena Bonham-Carter makes the briefest of appearances hardly warranting her billing on the poster. The one and only time it becomes exciting is when the William Tell Overture kicks in. The Lone Ranger set Disney back a whopping $225 million, with six weeks open in the States it has only taken in $175 million. Sorry Johnny, but you can’t blame anyone else but the film for that one.
That about sums it up, the best character is a horse.
