Directed By: Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Starring: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, James Badge Dale
Run Time: 2 hours, 29 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence, and some suggestive material
Synopsis: Set in 1930's San Francisco, an old Tonto (Depp) regales a kid with the tale of The Lone Ranger - a former lawyer named John Reid (Hammer) who heads home to Texas to join his Ranger brother, Dan (Dale). While tracking down escaped criminal Butch Cavendish (Fichtner), John, his brother and his rangers are ambushed, killing everyone. John is brought back from the dead by Tonto, rechristened The Lone Ranger, and they team up to carry out the task of catching Cavendish, but wind up discovering a deeper plot involving the Transcontinental Railroad and railroad tycoon Latham Cole (Wilkinson).
REVIEW
Andrew:
Hello readers! Continuing our task of catching up on reviews we’ve been late on
posting, today Sarah and I are discussing this month’s big blockbuster, and
utter box-office flop, The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp
as Tonto and Armie Hammer (The Social Network) in the title role. The Lone Ranger is a bit of a reuniting of the crew that
brought us the hugely successful original three Pirates of the Caribbean movies,
particularly with Depp and director Gore Verbinski coming together again after
Verbinski sat out Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
So this was Disney’s big film of the summer, hoping that
this group of people could put together another successful franchise based on
the old radio and television show. Sarah, now that we’ve seen The
Lone Ranger, what did you think of this new attempt at a franchise?
Sarah: I
thought that it was a feast for the senses, but that’s about it. It was
action-packed and it was the Johnny Depp Show to the max, but as far as
storyline? And character development? I thought it was incredibly weak. What
did you think?
A: Well, I
think you’re right, that’s it’s totally full of action, especially the last
half of the film. But, yeah, the storyline isn’t the strongest and I understand
they had to kind of set this up; it’s really starting from scratch pretty much
as they’re trying to market this to an audience and a generation that doesn’t
really know the Lone Ranger, or even care about the Lone Ranger.
