The Lone Ranger (2013)

The idea of “justice” gets thrown around quite often. What exactly is justice? That is exactly what John Reid (Armie Hammer) must ask himself when he gets thrown into the role of a western hero and assumes the persona of the Lone Ranger.

The movie begins with a young boy walking through a carnival in 1933 San Francisco. He is dressed as his idol—the Lone Ranger. He enters an exhibit (“Life on the Frontier” or something to that extent) and comes across a wax figure of a Native American. This wax figure is not really a wax figure at all; it’s Tonto (Johnny Depp), an elderly man with a story to tell. He sees the boy’s costume and begins to regale him with the tale of how the Lone Ranger became the Lone Ranger. We are taken back to 1869; the towns are small, the frontier is large, and the American Dream is larger still. We’re introduced to John Reid, a peaceful lawyer traveling to see his brother Dan (James Badge Dale) back home in Texas. On the train, the ride is disrupted by the cannibalistic outlaw Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) and his gang. John attempts to take the nonviolent route by ordering them under arrest, but Cavendish overpowers him and locks him up with none other than our friend Tonto. John and Tonto are forced to work together in an attempt to stop the criminals; the outlaws, however, derail the train and escape. Back in town, John is reunited with Rebecca (Ruth Wilson), his childhood sweetheart—and now Dan’s wife. Dan and the other rangers prepare to leave town again to pursue Cavendish, and John tags along. Soon, the men are led into a trap and John is the lone survivor. Tonto saves him with the help of the mystical “spirit horse” and the three embark on a journey for justice.

Many critics strongly disliked the film; I’m inclined to disagree. I really enjoyed the film and ended up seeing it three times in theaters. I felt that the film sent a very interesting message, and I liked that Disney took some risks with it.

Before I get into the deeper parts of the film, let’s talk about the actors. Apart from the two protagonists (Hammer and Depp), the antagonist (Fichtner), and one minor character (Helena Bonham Carter), the cast was relatively unknown to me. I enjoy watching actors I haven’t seen before because I don’t have set expectations for them. I did, however, have higher standards for the four bigger names; I’m pleased to say that they met those standards. Hammer and Depp had great chemistry as John and Tonto, respectively, and I’d like to see them in more films together. They pulled off the love-hate friendship very well and had an interesting dynamic onscreen (which may have been partially due to the fact that they’re both quite pleasing to look at). Fichtner shined in the role of the villain; I feel that, if the film had done better, Disney could have easily marketed him as one of its most evil villains. Most of his scenes were delightfully cringe-worthy; I think that every good villain should make the audience cringe. Helena Bonham Carter was as wacky as ever in her role as Red Herrington, the prostitute with a secret up her sleeve—or should I say skirt, since that secret happens to be an ivory leg that’s really a gun?

I also want to talk about the cinematography in this film. Actually, “gush” would be a more appropriate term. The cinematography in this movie is amazing. Disney’s live-action films never cease to amaze me with their scenery, and The Lone Ranger is no exception. I’ve never been a huge fan of desert landscapes, but the scenes in this movie made me want to don a ten-gallon hat and some boots and ride into the sunset. One of my favorite shots in the film is the first time John sees the spirit horse. The horse is high up on a bluff, and the camera angle is able to capture the sky and the canyon around him, showing off the contrasting hues…it’s stunning. I won’t talk about my absolute most favorite shot for fear of spoilers (it’s at the very end of the movie), but I will tell you that it’s simply gorgeous.

Earlier, I mentioned liking the risks that Disney took with this film. I believe that Disney’s riskier films are some of its greatest and most underrated films (such as 1996’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame). This film’s biggest risk has got to be its blatant mention of cannibalism. Although we never outright see Cavendish eating another human, we see a reflection of his silhouette as he eats a man’s heart, and later he licks the blood off of a razor after it cuts his cheek. The Lone Ranger is not the first Disney film to feature prostitutes, but it does give them a larger role than, say, Pirates of the Caribbean (another Jerry Bruckheimer film in which Johnny Depp has an interesting relationship with working girls). Red and her girls at the brothel aren’t sweet and sugar-coated…at least not for Disney.

I also mentioned the film’s message. It showed that not all white men were as innocent as history shows them to be, nor were all Native Americans as savage as some believe them to be. In fact, the film’s antagonists are all white; most of the Native Americans in the film aren’t the protagonists, but they aren’t the bad guys either. The film shows “progress” (Manifest Destiny, western expansion…take your pick) in an extremely negative light; again, those fighting for “progress” are all white men. I think it’s important to show that, in a lot of cases, the white race was the bad guy, considering the fact that many history books today try to cover that up.

Finally, I want to talk about the music in the film. I’m a sucker for movie soundtracks, especially Hans Zimmer’s scores. Parts of this score are reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks, but with a more “western” twist. Then, we have the finale score…oh, the finale score. The Lone Ranger wouldn’t be complete without four things: the black mask, the white hat, the white horse, and the William Tell Overture. Zimmer puts his own exciting twist on the piece by incorporating romance, action, and suspense into it. There are also brief moments that have the same feel of the Pirates score, which makes a mega-fan like me very happy. Even if you’re not a movie score fan, I urge you to give this film’s soundtrack a chance—it’s worth it.

The one problem I had with the movie was its geographical/historical inaccuracy. I’m a bit of a history geek, so I was a little bothered by the fact that the film claimed that Promontory Point (or Promontory Summit, as it’s referred to in the film), the meeting place of the Pacific and Central Railroads, was located in Texas; it is, in fact, located in Utah. I’ve tried giving the film the benefit of the doubt for this mistake many times, but I still can’t come up with an excuse as to why the film would make this mistake. However, considering that this is the only issue I have with the film, I’m willing to forget about it.

The Lone Ranger may be cheesy and far-fetched at points, but it was able to make me forget about my woes for two and a half hours, and I think that that’s the best thing a movie can do for someone. I chose to ignore the other critics’ opinions and see the film, and I recommend doing the same to anyone who will listen.

Score: 10/10
Recommend: Yes, but only if you're willing to accept its goofiness