Despite growing up on Westerns, I don’t particularly like them. With that in mind, I might not be the best person to review Disney’s latest attempt at building a franchise, The Lone Ranger. I do however find Johnny Depp’s eccentric performances quite enjoyable so, there is that.
Based on the 1933 Detroit WKYZ radio serial of the same name, The Lone Ranger has been a constant staple of Americana. Children have grown up playing Cowboys and Indians and the black mask of the ranger, his catch phrase “Hi-Yo Silver! Away!”, as well as the music from the William Tell Overture are iconic pieces of pop culture.
Disney’s version, directed by Pirates of the Caribbean helmer, Gore Verbinski, plays the classic character pretty straight. In fact, Armie Hammer, who stars in the titular role, is mostly a stick in the mud, playing more a bumbling reluctant hero than the brave vigilante one might expect. Of course, this is all counter balanced by Johnny Depp’s role as The Lone Ranger’s sidekick, Tonto. Depp, as he does in nearly every role but particularly that of Captain Jack Sparrow, eats up scenery. He’s funny and charming as always but a touch less so than in past roles. Maybe the shtick has finally run its course.
To be fair to Hammer, The Lone Ranger is presented as an origin story, which requires John Reid to come to terms with a different take on justice after an ambush leaves his brother dead and him assumed to be. After Tonto sets Reid on his path, there is a lot of filler character moments that shape Reid into the masked hero, and they mostly lack the excitement of the trailers. That is not to say that The Lone Ranger is devoid of quality action set pieces, it’s just that, much like the Pirates films, they come few and far between.
There are four big set pieces spaced out over the course of the film’s 149 minute run time. The final two come back to back, meaning there is a lack of compelling action for most of the film. This lack of action forces the film to rely on the charisma of its leads. As mentioned, Armie Hammer’s John Reid plays it straight, which allows for Depp to do his Johnny Depp thing, and the interaction between the two is decently entertaining. Shining in her brief role is Helena Bonham Carter, and her chemistry wih Depp is, as always, fantastic but there is so little of it that her role seems wasteful and only stretches out the already long run time. However the same can’t be said about William Fichtner as the villainous Butch Cavendish, who is, hands down, the most enjoyable aspect of The Lone Ranger.
Cavendish is a phenomenally crafted villain, and Fichtner’s performance makes it quite easy to root against him, as Fichtner doesn’t just chew scenery, he devours it. As the groundwork is being set for Reid to become the hero, Cavendish literally eats someone’s heart, and as the film progresses, he becomes more and more despicable, and it is Fichtner’s performance that sells it. Everything from the scraggly look and scratchy delivery works to make Cavendish something scary and a worthy opponent for our masked hero.
Unfortunately, despite the mostly enjoyable performances, The Lone Ranger suffers from an extremely poorly paced story and no amount of fine character performances can work around that. Clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, the film asks a lot of the viewer before delivering the goods in a massive action sequence worthy of the Bruckheimer production banner. It is a great payoff that pays tribute to the legacy of The Lone Ranger, while also being exceptionally fun and enjoyable. It is the getting there that leaves a lot to be desired.
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