Rango Movie Summary in Film Criticism Course Forum

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    • #112161

      Rango movie summary and review in our film criticism course forum for ESL students to practice English with films and movies.

      Rango movie summary

      “Rango” is some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical, and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2-D. Its brilliant colors and startling characters spring from the screen and remind us how very, very tired we are of simpleminded little characters bouncing around dimly in 3-D.

      Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/

      Rango trailer

      Rango movie summary 2

      A chameleon or lizard (Johnny Depp) who has lived as a sheltered family pet finds himself in the grip of an identity crisis. Rango wonders how to stand out when it is his nature to blend in. When he accidentally winds up in a frontier town called Dirt, he takes the first step on a transformational journey as the town’s new sheriff. Though at first Rango only role-plays, a series of thrilling situations and outrageous encounters forces him to become a real hero.

      Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/

      Rango film criticism

      1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate this movie? Why?
      2. What was the climax (the highest point of tension and excitement in the storyline) of the film in your opinion?
      3. Raise any other relevant question or opinion about the movie that you consider significant.
    • #112222
      Armaghan Houshmand
      Participant

      1- My score on this movie-animation is 7/5.
      It had an exciting story and the characters and their problems were like a metaphor to our real world. When I was a kid this animation could not take my attention and now I get it, because it hadn’t a huge range of light colors but now I understand why. Because of its genre (western) and their main demand (water) and the hot weather (they were in the middle of desert), the color pallete should have been more brown and dusty. The only thing I can complain about, is that it got predictable at the end and I found it quite boring in the middle.

      2- The climax in my opinion was almost at the end of the animation, where Rango came back and they had the final battle.

      3- I think another point that was interesting about this movie, was its quotes that made you think and wonder. One quote from this movie that triggered my brain was that: ” You can’t walk out on your own story”. It referred to our destiny and plans that we can’t run from them like Rango who meant to help the people from Dirt to find water. And another point is that from the first part of the animation which they asked the lizard who are you and at that moment he questioned himself, “who he really was and what was his name?” And he thought that he could be anyone and have any name and he improvised his story cause he had a quite passion for acting and imagining (we get it from the very first scene) and he became who he wanted to be.

      • #112230

        WOW! I was impressed by your elaborate criticism about the Rango movie. Thank you so much for your review.

        I should say that I have a higher opinion about this animated movie, and for this reason, I’m gonna rank it 9 out of 10. My elevated opinion about the movie is basically because of its profound story with didactic messages.

        To me, the climax of the story was when Rango was trying to cross the street at night. The background music and the nightly ambience haunted me so bad, and I had to watch that part several times. Crossing the street was a symbol of transformation in life, which was possible but at a cost. it was such a risky endeavor. However, it was necessary for Rango to reach for salvation and enlightenment, which was represented in the film by the spirit of the west.

        Another theme of the movie was identity crisis. Before crossing the street at that night, Rango questioned himself who he was, and answered himself as “nobody”. He was actually a nonentity suffering from nihilism. Yet, he was resolute to change, and that’s why he became enlightened or transformed.

        In this highly satirical masterpiece, Rango was first like a fish out of water. Although he was a chameleon or lizard which should be really good at camouflaging, he literally failed to blend in with the surrounding atmosphere and people. However, he optimistically pretended to be in charge of everything. In English, we say, “fake it till you make it“.

        Finally, I think the movie is trying to instill the philosophy of existentialism in our minds. That is to say, we can be whomever we want to be. We just need to know our passion in life and take steps slowly but steadily in the journey. Exactly like Rango, who managed to have faith in himself by the end of the movie, and because of his self-confidence (having faith in himself), he didn’t need to be worried about anything or anybody.

    • #112357
      Soroosh Houshmand
      Participant

      My score of this movie is 8/5 because 1- it was comedy 2- nice story 3- good characters.

      Now my point of this story is that a bad boss in that little desert city like a dictator was lying to all of the people in that city about not having water and living in a desert. But one time a lizard come in that desert and save all of the people in that desert with finding water near to a big city of humans, but after that the boss of the desert and Jake the snake got him and put him in the bottle full of water but our RANGO survived with ONE BUIET. after that Jake finally figured that the boss is a very bad guy. Jake got the boss with himself and go to a very far place.

      • #112358

        I’m certain that you’ve liked this animated movie because you’ve written a relatively long review of this movie. In addition, you paid special attention to the details, and you’ve got the story completely right.
        Congratulations!

    • #112361
      Farhang Hooshmand
      Participant

      I am not a movie watcher but this film really grasp my attention. It has a very impressive effect. It also remind me of the book Animal Castle. It shows how every one can change his own destiny and also play an important role in the society. No one is nobody. Everyone could be any body. It depends on our mindset, confidence and how we behave and the responsibilities we take.

      • #112369

        Glad you liked this movie, and if interested, we could keep on watching and criticizing one movie per week. We can discuss the plot and theme of this movie in the class in more depth.

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