Movie Review for "Rango"

After seeing the previews, I had high hopes when I went to see the movie Rango, however, I left the theater puzzled. Was this movie’s target audience really supposed to be children? Rango is an animated film about an imaginative, yet lonely, domestic chameleon who gets lost in the desert. The movie follows his journey to safety finding the town of Dirt with the help of a young female lizard named Beans, his efforts to fit in there, and his struggle to make real friends for the first time in his life. This sounds like a heartwarming story, and it is… nevertheless, I felt it was overshadowed by superfluous vocabulary (yes I did that on purpose) and graphics that, although quite impressive, I feel may be too intense for some young children.

Some of the first things I noticed were the lack of children in the audience, and the absence of kids’ movies in the previews. Then, the first 5-10 minutes of the movie would be hard to follow for any child considering most of the words Rango uses were similar to vocabulary I remember studying to take the SATs. Next, as I mentioned, the visuals were striking, but they were fairly severe and I think maybe too intense for some children.

Jake is probably the most intimidating character in the movie. He is a giant menacing snake that slithers across the screen in such a way I remember thinking if it was in 3-D I’d be taking my glasses off. At one point, he has Beans gripped tightly in his coil and he squeezes her saying, “Look into my eyes. I want to see you die!” I can’t speak for every parent, but personally this seems like a little much to me. As far as language goes, this is only one example. He uses the “D” word, and H-E-double-hockey-sticks is thrown around like a game of hot potato. There are also a few sexual innuendos that aren’t all that hidden.

I know I may be on the conservative end of things, but I would recommend that parents watch this movie first before allowing their children to see it. Then you can decide on a case-by-case basis if it is appropriate for your child. With that said, it’s certainly not a horrible movie, I definitely chuckled, it was clever in many ways, and there were good messages within the plot. The critics have given it pretty good reviews. All I can say is that I try to watch and review these movies taking into consideration the critical eye of a protective parent and the wide-eyed innocent perspective of a child.

Written by Princess Jessica Brandhorst