A chameleon finds himself in Dirt, a tiny Old West town plagued by bandits, and pretends to be a swashbuckling hero in order to protect it. Extraordinary amalgamation of film references is an absolute celebration of classic Hollywood westerns. All of this appropriating might have felt like unoriginality, but it doesn’t come off that way here. This is not about trendy pop culture references, but an intelligent blending of movie history. Any avid moviegoer will be in cinematic nirvana with this creative mashup. In one scene, Rango’s phony overconfidence recalls Don Knotts in The Shakiest Gun in the West and the homage is the funniest thing I’ve seen in quite a while. Even the Rango theme song by Los Lobos is a catchy little ditty that recalls the theme to the 60s television series Rawhide.
The picture is a cinephile’s dream come true, but I think what pushes Rango to the next level is the subversiveness of it all. This cartoon is atypically irreverent. I wouldn‘t recommend the story to anyone under the age of 7. Most of it will sail right over their heads and I suspect many adults won’t “get it” either. The script alternates between jokes only a knowledgeable film buff would get and those no child could possibly understand. At one point Rango tries to convince people that he and a snake are brothers, explaining, “Mama had an active social life.” Oh and make no mistake, these desert animals are ugly. Not a cuddly cutie in the entire motley bunch. One of the members of Rango’s posse is a bird that has an arrow struck through his eye. But they’re beautifully animated, and the supporting cast has real character depth. My favorite was “Spoons” a grey bearded mouse. Tough and grizzled like an old prospector, he’s hilariously expressive. It’s the kind of creative story that demands repeated viewings. Just see it for the many lines of laughably quotable dialogue. I won’t spoil them here. OK, maybe just one: “If this were heaven, kid, we’d all be eating pop tarts with Kim Novak”.
Fast Film Reviews 
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