Rango

RANGO (2011) - Mar. 1, 2011
About a pet chameleon who finds himself the sheriff of a wild west-style town, this was a bit of a disappointment from Gore Verbinksi, and marks two not-so-great films in a row from the man (after the convoluted last Pirates film).  One of the main problems here is that aside from Rango himself, all of the characters are pretty bland and uninteresting, making it tough to care about the fate of their town.  Westerns are obviously pretty rare these days, so it was nice to see a straight western without much irony -- but the film just isn't that great.  I was never bored, but I was never particularly involved, either.  There were, however, some surprisingly exciting action set-pieces, and the whole thing was decent enough, if not particularly memorable.  **1/2