THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST

Rango tells the tale of a chameleon who gets stranded in the Nevada desert and winds up at Dirt, a town populated by desert animals and plagued by water shortage. He creates a brand new personality that is tough, fearless and full of bravado. When he accidentally kills the hawk that has been terrorizing the townsfolk, he becomes a symbol of hope and is appointed the new sheriff. Rango does his best to protect the townsfolk and in the process, becomes the hero he always wanted to be.

OMG I think I almost died (of happiness) in the cinemawhen I heard/recognized Timothy Olyphant’s voice as the Spirit of the West! Considering the fact that I didn’t know any other voice except Johnny Depp’s, it was a pleasant surprise! However, since the image of the Spirit of the West is unique to each person, I can’t find any picture of him/her/it – not even in Rango’s perspective. So, here’s an alternative:

Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in FX's Justified

The movie really caught me unexpected, in a good way. Basically, the story’s about Rango trying to find his identity and the process is hilarious and a little sad at times but coupled with the fact that it’s also a Western… needless to say, I enjoyed it thoroughly. The owl mariachi band provides witty and funny songs/commentary throughout the film and they are constantly pessimistic about the fate of Rango. Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy – perfect evil, creepy voice) sends shivers down my spine and you wouldn’t want to drink from his shotglass.

I can totally imagine Johnny Depp doing this in real life.

Plus, the film was acted out while the actors recorded their voices, so the characters have human-like expressions. That includes Johnny Depp’s always-quirky performance, full of his signature charm and swagger. Must watch! 4 out of 5 stars.

And here’s a featurette from Rango:

THE 0822 TRAIN

In The Tourist, Angelina Jolie plays Elise Ward, a woman being trailed by the police because of her involvement with Alexander Pearce, who is wanted for tax evasion. Elise meets Frank (Johnny Depp) on the train and leads the police to believe that it is Pearce’s new identity. Frank’s trip to Europe becomes much more dangerous than expected when both sides of the law are after him, believing him to be Alexander Pearce.

The first thing that catches your eye (mine, at least) is how ravishing Angelina Jolie looks! She looks really refined and pretty. Her dresses and gowns are really classy, not too revealing, but accentuates her figure and looong legs. Johnny Depp looks normal – quite a rare thing to say considering the roles he took – except I could sense a tinge of Jack Sparrow in him when he was on the rooftop. One of the interesting gadgets was the electronic cigarette Depp was smoking and the device which enabled the Italian policeman to “flush” his cigarette from his table! The ending was kind of unexpected though I felt it was dragged on for a little too long that I didn’t feel as surprised as I should be when it was revealed. 3 out of 5 stars.

Italian Policeman: You wish to report a murder.
Frank Taylor: Attempted murder.
Italian Policeman: That’s not so serious.
Frank Taylor: Not when you downgrade it from murder. But when you when you upgrade it from room service, it’s quite serious.

ALL ABOUT MUCHNESS

Alice In Wonderland tells of Alice’s adventures back into Underland (Wonderland) 13 years after her first visit. Upon her arrival, she is told that she has to slay the Jabberwocky, the Red Queen’s menacing dragon-like creature, in order to bring peace to Underland. The Mad Hatter and his friends – the White Rabbit, the March Hare, the Dormouse, the Cheshire Cat and Tweedledee and Tweedledum await her arrival to overthrow the Red Queen’s reign.

I suppose one of the main draws of the movie was seeing Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and I really liked how his eye makeup and colour of his pupils changes according to his moods! I have never read Lewis Carroll’s novels when I was young so I’m not really familiar with the characters, but they seem rather amusing. The Red Queen mistreats animals by using them as leg rests, clubs, balls and table- and chair-bearers – such poor animals! She also collects anyone with a large-whatever (ears, noses, stomachs and breasts) and executes at ease (“Off with their heads”). The final action sequence was okay to watch and the part I looked forward to was the Mad Hatter’s Futterwacken dance. Glad Alice made it good in the real world. 3 out of 5 stars.