“The Lone Ranger”, which opens today, has already gotten some pretty negative reviews from critics, who say it’s not so much that the film is bad; it’s that it doesn’t really understand what sort of beast it is.
From the get-go–pretty much as soon as those pictures emerged of Johnny Depp’s costume, not to mention the fact that Depp is playing Tonto–many were skeptical of the plot. Taking an old televised western and bringing it to the big screen is tricky enough without bringing in all the trappings of a big-budget summer action flick, and many critics are saying that Gore Verbinski fell short.
According to The Wrap, “The Lone Ranger feels schizophrenic, a state of affairs that would be forgivable if it delivered as a post-modern comedy or as an exciting Western or even as an exhilaratingly brainless piece of summer entertainment. It is a drag as an action movie, it’s not funny in its attempts at self-parody, and it feels like a Western made by people working off a checklist of tropes without ever really understanding the genre. [Director Gore] Verbinski and his writers have taken a promising idea and put a silver bullet in its head.”
Variety says, “No longer simply the sidekick, Tonto gets top billing in Disney’s extravagant but exhausting reboot, whose vaguely revisionist origin story partners a heavily face-painted Johnny Depp with the blandly handsome Armie Hammer. Directed by “Pirates of the Caribbean’s” Gore Verbinski, this over-the-top oater delivers all the energy and spectacle audiences have come to expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer production, but sucks out the fun in the process, ensuring sizable returns but denying the novelty value required to support an equivalent franchise.”
Of course, there are a few people online who say they thoroughly enjoyed the film, but they seem to be in the minority at this point.
My "Lone Ranger" review: why is Tonto such a pathetic character, and what's with the demonic rabbit? http://t.co/NLwhkABKAa
— Richard Roeper (@richardroeper) July 3, 2013
THE LONE RANGER, reviewed. Warts and all, I really liked it. http://t.co/7fotvYtDK8
— Matt Zoller Seitz (@mattzollerseitz) July 3, 2013
'The Lone Ranger' REVIEW: This overly ambitious Western is a rough cut of a slimmer, better movie | http://t.co/x2f36Jsjvx
— TIME.com (@TIME) July 2, 2013
Review: "The Lone Ranger" is a boisterous, relentless production, long on action but short on fun http://t.co/VcT59CKnRg
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 2, 2013
Armie Hammer is telling friends that it wasn't him in The Lone Ranger, and they just added his head in digitally like The Social Network.
— Patrick Daly (@patddaly) July 3, 2013
THE LONE RANGER took in only $2M at 7pm shows last night (via @AmyKinLA). Gonna be a big old disaster.
— Grady Smith (@gradywsmith) July 3, 2013