The Lone Ranger (2013)

[FilmBuff]

Someone could have made a very good LR movie for less than $50M if they'd just spent their time shooting an authentic style Western. Instead they had to try and recreate the general absurdity and adventure of the Pirates movies in the hopes of establishing another billion $ franchise. To me - once they let Depp put that stupid bird on his head the prospects for this movie went down the tubes.This is a movie the shows what happens when egos run amok in Hollywood. The studio tried to kill it when the budget was just over $200 million and then inexplicably went forward and now they get to see their financials suffer as a result.Instantly Forgettable movie.C-

Edited July 11, 2013 by FilmBuff

[jb007]

There was a decent story here that needed a fast paced script. While the movie has some funny moments, it fails to entertain. Depp is ok. Armie Hammer is irritating. 

 

The biggest problem is that the characters are uneven.  Butch Cavendish initially shown as a super-villain with a supernatural tint peters out in the end, just like the movie.

 

Made with a decent budget and script, it would have been ok. Making this monstrosity for $250M is unforgivable.

 

Like others have mentioned, I also feel westerns work when they are true westerns. When they go for high concept westerns like Wild Wild West, Cowboys and Aliens and now with The Lone Ranger, the westerns seem to suffer in public acceptance and quality.

 

C-/D+

 

 

 

[The Movie Man]

Mixed feelings on this...some good parts and some bad parts????

 

PS. What do you think about the parts with JD and the boy, did you like those parts or wish they weren't in the movie?

[RobinHood26]

 

 

PS. What do you think about the parts with JD and the boy, did you like those parts or wish they weren't in the movie?

That is was fucking horrible. 

 

I kept forgetting about it then out of nowhere it would cut to 120 year old Depp. 

[Plain Old Tele]

Finally about to see this.

[Deep Wang]

Finally about to see this.

 

 

Oof.

 

That's all I can say.

[TMP]

Good god, was this a bloated turd

What was the actual purpose of HBC's character? Johnny Depp was sleep walking through this, giving his laziest performance. The kid stuff was unnecessary, and Lone Ranger was one big joke. Even the cannibal bunnies sucked.

2/10

Those are my two cents anyways.

Edited July 18, 2013 by TMP

[Plain Old Tele]

Well damn. I liked it more than I expected. About a third of it is total shit, maybe a third is just generic bloated would-be blockbuster crap, but a third is actually pretty damn good. That final train sequence is my favorite action scene of the summer, I think.

[Michael Gary Scott]

Well damn. I liked it more than I expected. About a third of it is total shit, maybe a third is just generic bloated would-be blockbuster crap, but a third is actually pretty damn good. That final train sequence is my favorite action scene of the summer, I think.

what is this we agree on something tele I didnt think it would ever happen

[Plain Old Tele]

Well, it is a godawful mess. I mean, you could make like 3 completely different movies from what made it in there. And yet.... I think I liked it more than IM3.

[Michael Gary Scott]

Well, it is a godawful mess. I mean, you could make like 3 completely different movies from what made it in there. And yet.... I think I liked it more than IM3.

first half I wasnt into it much but the last 20 mins is so great

[Plain Old Tele]

All those Old Tonto scenes were lousy. I did like most of the straight western stuff, which includes a decent chunk of the first half. Actually, it felt to me that Verbinki really just wanted to make an old-school western -- he didn't care about any of the actual Lone Ranger stuff. He was paying homage to sorts of old classics: the Temperance Union stuff from WILD BUNCH, the soundtrack riffed on the melody from ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, he was shooting on John Ford's locations, some scenes felt like they were lit like THE SEARCHERS, etc. If he'd just stuck to that, it would've been great... but not a Disney movie by any stretch. All that "comedic" banter fell flat, the tone was awkward and kept changing, the need to have little origin story explanations was kinda annoying, and the cannibal rabbits and superhero horse was just horrible. Horrible.But those last twenty minutes were gold, until the train goes off the bridge.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Telemachos

[Webslinger]

The Lone Ranger is a miss, but at least it's an interesting miss, if also a frustrating one. The main culprit that bogs the film down is its unevenness: the first half-hour gets the film off to a good start, the next 90 or so minutes are mostly plodding and overstuffed with exposition, and then the finale is exciting to watch. Also problematic is the character development; despite the length of the film, the protagonist gets little initial development and a relatively weak arc, which makes it difficult to invest in his journey when there's not some sort of action happening onscreen. It also doesn't help that the casting is somewhat off. Armie Hammer looks the part of the title character and has some charisma, but he sometimes lacks the conviction to carry the film. But at least audiences can try to see Hammer as the Ranger; the same cannot be said for Johnny Depp as Tonto. Even though it's clear that Depp is having a good time, there's not one minute in the film where I get the sense that I'm watching a character rather than Depp doing his usual shtick. It's not a bad performance, but it's certainly a distracting one. But whatever the film's shortcomings may be, the action scenes are not among them. As in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, director Gore Verbinski brings excellent senses of motion, choreography, and spatial awareness to the action scenes, and the train chase in the third act is the most creative and inspired set piece in any film this summer. Unfortunately for The Lone Ranger, the vast sums of money Disney stands to lose on it at the box office will guarantee its place in the history books as a train wreck. While it's not entirely successful (and indeed, could have been vastly improved with sharper character development, less Depp shtick, and more streamlined exposition), it does have redeeming qualities that should grant it a kinder reception than it has gotten so far.

 

C+

 

Despite my reservations about the film, I do think it's better than it has been given credit for. It's not nearly as much of a misfire as its critical reception and box office performance would suggest.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Webslinger

[ddddeeee]

This was good! Dunno why Dame HBC was in it though, she just disappeared.

[CJohn]

So... this got truly trashed by critics. I just would like to understand why? What is so wrong about it to have far worse RT scores than PoP or Sorcerers Apprentice. I enjoyed it. Had fun with it. It is generic, true. Depp and Hammer were great together.

[RobinHood26]

-

Edited May 9, 2018 by Jay Hollywood

[ChD]

I only managed to watch like the first twenty minutes or so and I can already tell there are pacing issues.

[ChD]

I only managed to watch like the first twenty minutes or so and I can already tell there are pacing issues.

 

So, I finally watched the whole movie, and despite saying that the pacing would be an issue, it didn't really bother me that much. The old Tonto is really unnecessary since he doesn't do shit... We just randomly cut to him, the kid says something, then Tonto looks into the distance dramatically or says a random word, and the story continues.

 

About the movie itself. The only pacing problem was that it took way too long to get into the story. The first 10/20 minutes were actually great. The soundtrack went perfectly with all the scenes, but once Dan dies, everything starts becoming some kind of mess.

 

Anyways, I am a sucker for adventure movies and I found this one to be entertaining as hell. I didn't mind all the issues that the movie had - like the budget. I care about watching the movie and saying my honest opinion related to what I thought of it, not of it's budget. I have to give a big plus to Zimmer's score. I enjoyed it a lot.

 

The action scenes were very good. One particular scene reminded me a lot of The Last Samurai... I have to watch that movie again. So, in the end it's quite sad that the movie bombed that hard. It didn't deserve to. There are many blockbusters out there that grossed more than this, and actually turned in profit, despite being way worse than this movie. Undeserved.

 

B+

[baumer]

I think this will be a movie that is more appreciated down the road.  No it's not great but it has some of the best set pieces and action scenes of the year.

[John Marston]

One of Tarantino's favorite films of the year ! Lol