Keywords: Identity, relationships, hero, selflessness
Film title: Rango
Director: Gore Verbinski
Screenplay: John Logan
Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Timothy Olyphant,
Cinema Release Date: 14 February 2011 (USA) 4 March 2011 (UK)
DVD Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)
DVD Release date: 10 May 2011 (USA); 25 July 2011 (UK)
Certificate: PG (USA) Contains rude humour, language and smoking; PG (UK) Contains mild threat and violence
A nameless chameleon with protruding eyes, skinny neck, a penchant for long words, and an inclination to heroics is launched out of the back of his owner’s swerving car and, at the same time, out of his monotonous, self-centred existence. He finds himself in the middle of the Mojave Desert, surrounded by the shattered pieces of his terrarium and the remaining paraphernalia of his theatrical pastime. Following the advice of a wizened armadillo, the lizard leaves the highway and heads out into the desert in search of water and a frontier town called Dirt. The bright-coloured chameleon is a stark contrast to the medley of scaly, slimy and mangy creatures that inhabit the lawless outpost. An obvious outsider, he needs to make a good impression on this wily bunch and so he reinvents himself as Rango (voice of Johnny Depp), a legendary lizard who killed the Jenkins brothers – all seven of them – with one bullet. By a stroke of luck, Rango becomes the swashbuckling hero he always wanted to be, and is nominated sheriff for the drought-stricken town.
Rango is the clever conception and pet project of director Gore Verbinski. Filled with witty dialogue and subtle references to classic Westerns like Once Upon A Time In The West and Chinatown, it is a movie that will delight children and adults alike. Verbinski decided to buck the current 3D trend, and the resulting 2D product is commendable in its portrayal of gorgeous desert vistas and detailed characters, for which visual consultant Roger Deakins, director of photography on the Coen brothers’ films can be credited.
Rango is entirely unprepared for life in the desert; out of his element in this hostile environment he is desperately trying to blend in. Considering he is a chameleon, this should be easy, but unfortunately it isn’t. As a pet lizard at the start of the film, Rango is isolated and preoccupied with himself, whiling away the hours by acting as the hero in Shakespearean plays. However, as the movie progresses there occur several instances where he is confronted by the question, ‘Who am I?’ Verbinski highlights these moments by zooming in as Rango’s face freezes and the background darkens. Rango’s usual response is, ‘I could be anyone.’ He chooses whom he fancies being this time round and then promptly steps into character. So while he can easily act as whoever he chooses to be, he doesn’t know who he really is. The movie explores various existential themes through Rango’s search for an identity, and in the process raises a few questions for us to mull over: Can we be anyone we want to be? Or are we made with a specific identity? The Bible claims that God made each of us in his own image but with individual identities. But when we used the freedom God gave us to rebel, and go our own way, that image was marred. So while, to a large extent, our decisions mould our character and we can choose who we want to be, all of us have characteristics that are reflections of our maker.
Rango always dreams of being the hero. Perhaps, in his visualisati ring audience, P P 0 inti P ' BC^ b2/ z L3 L4 C s, super-powers and Spandex, or figures like James Bond and Robin Hood. But doesn’t true heroism highlight a serving attitude and selflessness to the point of death?
According to this definition, Jesus is the most incredible hero of all time. As the Son of God, he loved us so much that he came to this world as a human being to take the punishment we so rightly deserved for our rebellion. He did that because he knew that the only way we could come back into a relationship with God was if he died instead of us, and so free us to choose whether or not we wanted to accept his sacrifice and reconnect with our maker. Now that kind of selfless giving seems like something only the ultimate hero would do. If heroism is one of God’s characteristics, that will explain why we, who are made in his image, all long to be the champions of our story.
For Rango, the realisation that heroism actually means serving comes slowly. In a predictable turn of events, his lies eventually catch up with him, and he is humiliated and evicted from Dirt. He heads out into the desert again, where in a daze he crosses the busy highway unscathed and makes it over to the proverbial ‘Other Side’. Again, as an indication of the movie’s existential leanings, the Other Side – visually, an over-exposed salt flat – can be interpreted as a depiction of heaven. Here Rango encounters the Spirit of the West (voice of Timothy Olyphant), who reprimands him for ‘walking out on his own story.’ Rango realises that the choices he has made so far have been primarily to gain new friends and be popular. The movie plays with the familiar western trope of a run-down town in need of a saviour, and its unlikely hero. Rango’s solitary life has made him self-centred. But now it is no longer only about him; it is about them – his friends. Now he must be, not who he wants to be, but who his new friends need him to be. His life-long uncertainty about his identity is resolved when he realises that the relationships he has built dictate, to a large extent, who he is supposed to be. Rango walks into the blinding light and there receives an understanding of his destiny. He becomes the person the town folk needed him to be. He becomes their hero.
If that is true for Rango, could it be true for us as well? The Bible says that when we agree to enter into a relationship with God, he calls us out of the darkness of our rebellion and into his marvellous light1 so that we can then represent God to others in our words and actions. Do our relationships define our identity? And if so, would a relationship with God give us a clearer understanding of who we were truly made to be?
Film title: Rango
Director: Gore Verbinski
Screenplay: John Logan
Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Timothy Olyphant,
Cinema Release Date: 14 February 2011 (USA) 4 March 2011 (UK)
DVD Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)
DVD Release date: 10 May 2011 (USA); 25 July 2011 (UK)
Certificate: PG (USA) Contains rude humour, language and smoking; PG (UK) Contains mild threat and violence
A nameless chameleon with protruding eyes, skinny neck, a penchant for long words, and an inclination to heroics is launched out of the back of his owner’s swerving car and, at the same time, out of his monotonous, self-centred existence. He finds himself in the middle of the Mojave Desert, surrounded by the shattered pieces of his terrarium and the remaining paraphernalia of his theatrical pastime. Following the advice of a wizened armadillo, the lizard leaves the highway and heads out into the desert in search of water and a frontier town called Dirt. The bright-coloured chameleon is a stark contrast to the medley of scaly, slimy and mangy creatures that inhabit the lawless outpost. An obvious outsider, he needs to make a good impression on this wily bunch and so he reinvents himself as Rango (voice of Johnny Depp), a legendary lizard who killed the Jenkins brothers – all seven of them – with one bullet. By a stroke of luck, Rango becomes the swashbuckling hero he always wanted to be, and is nominated sheriff for the drought-stricken town.
Rango is the clever conception and pet project of director Gore Verbinski. Filled with witty dialogue and subtle references to classic Westerns like Once Upon A Time In The West and Chinatown, it is a movie that will delight children and adults alike. Verbinski decided to buck the current 3D trend, and the resulting 2D product is commendable in its portrayal of gorgeous desert vistas and detailed characters, for which visual consultant Roger Deakins, director of photography on the Coen brothers’ films can be credited.
Rango is entirely unprepared for life in the desert; out of his element in this hostile environment he is desperately trying to blend in. Considering he is a chameleon, this should be easy, but unfortunately it isn’t. As a pet lizard at the start of the film, Rango is isolated and preoccupied with himself, whiling away the hours by acting as the hero in Shakespearean plays. However, as the movie progresses there occur several instances where he is confronted by the question, ‘Who am I?’ Verbinski highlights these moments by zooming in as Rango’s face freezes and the background darkens. Rango’s usual response is, ‘I could be anyone.’ He chooses whom he fancies being this time round and then promptly steps into character. So while he can easily act as whoever he chooses to be, he doesn’t know who he really is. The movie explores various existential themes through Rango’s search for an identity, and in the process raises a few questions for us to mull over: Can we be anyone we want to be? Or are we made with a specific identity? The Bible claims that God made each of us in his own image but with individual identities. But when we used the freedom God gave us to rebel, and go our own way, that image was marred. So while, to a large extent, our decisions mould our character and we can choose who we want to be, all of us have characteristics that are reflections of our maker.
According to this definition, Jesus is the most incredible hero of all time. As the Son of God, he loved us so much that he came to this world as a human being to take the punishment we so rightly deserved for our rebellion. He did that because he knew that the only way we could come back into a relationship with God was if he died instead of us, and so free us to choose whether or not we wanted to accept his sacrifice and reconnect with our maker. Now that kind of selfless giving seems like something only the ultimate hero would do. If heroism is one of God’s characteristics, that will explain why we, who are made in his image, all long to be the champions of our story.
For Rango, the realisation that heroism actually means serving comes slowly. In a predictable turn of events, his lies eventually catch up with him, and he is humiliated and evicted from Dirt. He heads out into the desert again, where in a daze he crosses the busy highway unscathed and makes it over to the proverbial ‘Other Side’. Again, as an indication of the movie’s existential leanings, the Other Side – visually, an over-exposed salt flat – can be interpreted as a depiction of heaven. Here Rango encounters the Spirit of the West (voice of Timothy Olyphant), who reprimands him for ‘walking out on his own story.’ Rango realises that the choices he has made so far have been primarily to gain new friends and be popular. The movie plays with the familiar western trope of a run-down town in need of a saviour, and its unlikely hero. Rango’s solitary life has made him self-centred. But now it is no longer only about him; it is about them – his friends. Now he must be, not who he wants to be, but who his new friends need him to be. His life-long uncertainty about his identity is resolved when he realises that the relationships he has built dictate, to a large extent, who he is supposed to be. Rango walks into the blinding light and there receives an understanding of his destiny. He becomes the person the town folk needed him to be. He becomes their hero.
If that is true for Rango, could it be true for us as well? The Bible says that when we agree to enter into a relationship with God, he calls us out of the darkness of our rebellion and into his marvellous light1 so that we can then represent God to others in our words and actions. Do our relationships define our identity? And if so, would a relationship with God give us a clearer understanding of who we were truly made to be?
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