Originally I wanted to see "Rango" because like many other fans, I wanted to see what Johnny Depp could do with the animated genre. Surely he's ventured in to the medium before, but "Rango" is a vehicle for the man that grabbed much attention from movie fans across the states. And for good reason. "Rango" has some incredible animation. Its dusty and dry landscapes will cause many a viewer to be thirty and connect with the plight of the animals on focus here. Meanwhile the animal models for "Rango" are fantastic with Depp leading the charge as the lizard that comes to lead a town against evil animals and a drought that they're hoping to bounce back from. Not only does the film have something to say about droughts, but it has a genuinely entertaining plot. It's just too bad that "Rango" doesn't do much to entertain in the long run. Depp has always been a very eccentric actor, but he fails to channel such idiosyncrasies with "Rango," a film that's about as derivative as any usual Nickelodeon production that's been dragged in to theaters. For the more artistically inclined movie fans, "Rango" might just prove to be something of an entertaining adventure.

The extended version is almost two hours long, far too ambitious to hold its target audiences attention. And "Rango" will have a hard time connecting to its target crowds as thirst and droughts will be an issue that many audiences will question and not exactly relate with. "Rango" is centered around the titular character donning the role of the town sheriff for Dirtonia, and has to inherit much of the town's problems when he happens in to town and coincidentally takes out the biggest threat in the form of a desert hawk. The story is the biggest problem of "Rango," as the writers pull us in to all sorts of directions that can never decide where it wants to go. For a short period of time the main villain of the film is the hawk, and once he's exterminated, the film reverts in to two primary plots in which Rango must team up with the towns folks to get water for them or else they die of thirst, and confront the evil Rattlesnak Jake all at the same time. The writers sink us in to so many central plots and arcs that it's tough to figure out where we should be focusing and what we should be rooting for. In the end "Rango" is a fairly derivative and uninspiring piece of animated fare in a rather lackluster year, which is too bad considering Depp's talents reach over most genres.