For just about as long as films have been made, westerns have existed – there are some that argue this is the most important artistic important America has ever produced, with the impact of the genre on the history of filmmaking being impossible to overstate. Despite this, it’s still a genre that tends to be viewed as mostly outdated in its classical form, with the more exciting works being those that venture outside the confines of the traditional aspects and embrace a more unique style of storytelling, the likes of which do not even need to be mentioned considering how prominent they are throughout the culture. After dedicating half a decade to his passion project, a three-film adaptation of the Pirates of the Caribbean (which had previously only been a very popular theme park ride, but was transformed into one of the most profitable franchises in film history), Gore Verbinski turned his attention to another genre entirely, this time venturing into the Wild West and crafting Rango, a brilliant and subversive riff on the genre that he put together in collaboration with screenwriter John Logan, who worked closely with Verbinski to help realize his vision of a story centring on a down-on-his-luck chameleon who gets lost and finds himself wandering into a small town in the middle of the desert, where his ability to spin a compelling yarn and his go-for-broke fearlessness wins over the cynical residents of this dusty hamlet, forcing him into the position of sheriff, which he soon realizes comes with a bundle of responsibilities for which he is hopelessly under-prepared. Perhaps the best film Verbinski has made to date (although he has proven himself to be a singular talent, albeit one that Hollywood has not been able to quite pinpoint into a particular niche), and a truly original work of animation, Rango is a minor masterpiece, a wickedly entertaining and miraculously funny western comedy that manages to captivate and enthrall viewers of all ages, offering a balm for the sometimes predictable direction in which the medium has ventured in the past few years, and being a singular and bespoke work of pure artistic and narrative ingenuity, something that the director has demonstrated exceptionally well over time.

Over time, we’ve seen countless works produced that address the mythology of the American West – it’s a period that tends to run the gamut of interpretations and perceptions, ranging from being the symbol of old-fashioned values and a time when life was much simpler, to a gruesome era defined by racism, bigotry and an endless stream of violence as people battled both adversaries and hostile living conditions to survive. In every instance, each work set during this time tends to be quite different, which is precisely why Rango is such an original work. Verbinski has fashioned himself as a director who works within broad genres, subverting expectations while still maintaining some sense of affection for the original works that inspired him. This is his first foray into the Western genre, and from the start, it is clear that this is a film made by someone who possesses an extraordinary reverance for the genre, albeit still having the ability to not solely fawn over existing works and instead challenge the structure and conventions of a genre that is quite cliched when handled by someone without the foresight to know how to make these films original. Rango is a tremendous tribute to the West, doing so in a way that is oddly more engaging and endearing than many live-action films that aim to pay homage to the genre. The reason it is so incredibly enticing in the context of this film is quite simply because Verbinski deconstructs the western to its core, and rebuilds his film around this, rather than simply replicating the style without knowing exactly what it is that makes the genre so captivating. The design is incredible (it may be one of the most visually striking animated films of the past twenty years), and the tone the film takes is playful but steadily aligned with the various iterations of the genre. If nothing else, Rango is at least a wonderfully endearing tribute to all eras of the West, with references to everything from its earliest days during the silent era, through the classical period and era of spaghetti and revisionist westerns, right to the present-day. Visually and narratively, there are some terrific homages to the genre, and the love Verbinski feels for these films is reflected in absolutely every frame.

Rango features a fantastic voice cast, consisting of a blend of recognizable names and journeyman character actors, all of whom jump at the opportunity to portray one of the many wonderful and eccentric characters that populate this film, particularly since Verbinski has a reputation for giving his actors memorable roles that stretch their skills, even in the smallest of parts. The film features another collaboration between the director and Johnny Depp, with whom he had previously worked, and essentially handed him arguably the most iconic role of his career in the form of Captain Jack Sparrow, which helped the acclaimed but slightly off-kilter Depp skyrocket to fame in the subsequent years. This film doesn’t demand too much of Depp, and it often feels as if he is simply paying the director a favour – and to his credit, the titular role in Rango does not require much acting, since he’s simply the relatively blank slate of a protagonist whose growth is reflected through his interactions with other characters. The supporting cast does the majority of the hard work, with particular highlights including Bill Nighy, Stephen Root (playing three different characters), Alfred Molina, Isla Fisher and the ever-reliable veteran’s Harry Dean Stanton and Ned Beatty, both of whom deliver exceptional performances, as do the entire cast. Surprisingly, the amount of work that went into crafting these characters – their bespoke designs is enough to draw our attention, but it’s the fact that each one of them is rendered as a fully-formed, three-dimensional character that plays an integral role in the plot that leads to the film having such a wonderfully distinct tone, helping the story overcome a few small narrative flaws, flourishing into an engaging and thrilling western comedy that features characters that are more than just thinly-drawn archetypes, which has unfortunately been a trend for many run-of-the-mill western films, which Verbinski was very clearly intent on redefining with this project.

Based on the premise, style and performances, you would imagine that Rango is content to have achieved everything necessary to be a solid and entertaining film, especially considering how it is often quite easy to capture attention with animation, particularly the kind that tends to be more original in terms of execution. Yet, there are many more layers to this film that we expect at the outset, and we discover quite early on that Verbinski is working from a set of ideas that are much deeper than we’d anticipated based on a cursory glance. Primarily, once we look beyond the wacky, off-the-wall slapstick humour and pastiche to the Western genre, we discover that Rango is a surprisingly profound film, with a strong sense of existential philosophy underpinning the narrative. Verbinski’s greatest strength (as well as the reason he has never quite fit into the preconceived mould of a mainstream Hollywood director) is that he takes on this enormously popular genre, and infuses them with a depth that can come close to derailing the viewer’s initial expectations, which is not always the wisest decision from a business point of view, but exceptionally inspiring when it comes to artistic expression. The themes that the director explores throughout Rango are neither tenuous nor difficult to unearth – this is a story about a lonely individual who is forced to confront his insecurities when he is shoehorned into a position solely because he allowed his rabid imagination to overtake his actual skills, and as we would expect he eventually manages to rise to the occasion and proves to be far more valiant and resourceful than he expected. Like any strong Western, Rango is a film about finding the inner bravery to confront intimidating adversaries, who may seem impossible to defeat, but can be easily overcome with the right mindset. There are a few moments where the film does layer on these ideas in a way that is decidedly more heavy-handed than it ought to have been, but this is barely enough to distract from the strong theoretical foundation from which Verbinski is working. It doesn’t necessarily define the film so much as it allows some of its more ambigious moments to be shaded in, giving it a sense of complexity that would have otherwise been missing had the director not been so insistent on having these ideas form the basis for a truly fascinating and invigorating blend of philosophy and comedy.

Considering he had not directed an animated film previously, we can safely refer to Rango as the very definition of a labour of love for Verbinski, who works through the lengthy and expensive process of producing such a film purely based on his passion for the concept he and Logan concocted, which leads to a thrilling and engaging western comedy that is as outrageously funny as it is genuinely heartfelt. It seems about par for the course that an animated comedy would contain an abundance of depth to be emotionally resonant, but it becomes even more notable with Verbinski’s precise, meaningful direction guiding the story and allowing it to not only be extremely entertaining, but also containing a profound philosophical grounding that we discover through setting aside the eccentric characters and their deceptive charms, and instead focusing on the relationship between various characters as they set out to accomplish something that they realize is much easier when working as a team, which is one of the many themes this film explores. Rango is a terrific film – the story is simple but effective, the humour sharp and precise and the overall experience is mostly unforgettable. The excellent voice work coupled with the stunning design only supplements an already delightful story and allows the film to explore certain themes in a way that is far more compelling than anyone would initially anticipate based on a cursory glance, which is the aspect of the film that tends to be most surprising. Well-crafted and delightful in both story and execution and driven by a true sense of affection for its characters, it is not surprising that Rango has amassed a relatively solid body of supporters, all of whom have advocated for the exceptional value lingering beneath the surface of this delightful and irreverent film.