Absolutely the best film I have seen in the last 18 months.
When I look back on it the best films I have seen were "How to Train Your Dragon", "Megamind", and "Rango. Why, because the stories are great, the characters are great and the relationships are believable, and the movies are all crafted with care and great expertise.
Rango - seems like another animated film for kids. It is not. All age ranges can what it, but I think older adults and western film buffs will adore it. This movie has so many inside jokes. It's a wonderful tribute to the western. The stranger with no name that arrives in town to save it. It is so full of archetypes that a social anthologists will have a field day watching these movie. It is priceless to watch the rattlesnake gunslinger and realize he is patterned after Lee Van Cleef. Totally loved the homage to Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns. Then there is the soundtrack, songs and themes from great western TV shows and movies and of course Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" forever linked to the movie "Apocalyse Now" and now to "Rango."
Johnny Depp is brilliant as "Rango" and deserves an Oscar for this portrayal. I also like that this film pokes a little fun at itself and at Johnny Depp's currently most famous role of "Captain Jack Sparrow". Definitely a must see film.
