: A Postmodern Film in a Neolithic Setting

Rango is a 2011 film directed by Gore Verbinski. It follows an unlikely, isolated, and disassociated pet lizard played by Johnny Depp as he finds himself abandoned by his owners in a car accicdent, so he must forge a new life in a dangerous frontier community. With Rango's extremely grim setting and premise, our protagonist's new life on the frontier leaves a lot to the hazards of our imagination. After all, he certainly conceives of his own mythos about his previously mundane life once he's there. More overarchingly, however, the entire film seemingly embraces a dreamlike state-of-mind. The entire plot of Rango is about straddling the edge of survival, and our protagonist learns this the hard way through the very act of being hoisted into conflict by a car accident. With an excess of surreal imagery, a real interpretation could be made that our protagonist died in that crash, and the rest of the film takes place in the limbo of his own subconscious. We don't even know the name of the film's starring character beyond the pseudonym he coins for himself on the frontier--that name, of course, being Rango.

For that matter, a vast majority of the town's residents either have exremely rudementary nicknames or lack names altogether. The leading heroine of the film, "Beans" played by Isla Fisher, is just about the only character in the film with a discernable backstory. She grew up on a farming homestead; she lost her abusive father without a trace; and she's about to lose her unprofitable farm after a suspiciously long drought. Beyond what she tells us, we know stunningly little about how the film's setting was established from the outset, and disconnected details are only revealed to us through our protagonist's point of view. As such, Rango is a film expressly about self-determination--begging the audience to wonder what life they'd imagine for themselves if death only served to reincarnate. Where would we take ourselves, and what changes would we make. If we're particularly liberal about those changes, at what point do we cease to be ourselves? With a message so firmly tied to individualism, the film's Western setting serves as a perfect fit. The American frontier has traditionally been seen as a way for troubled people to start over in life, so one must imagine that Rango exemplifies our most unsavory yearnings. A lizard with no name riding on a horse with no name into a town with no name is evocative to say the least, and the film makes sure to establish that such a betrayal of responsibility is not by any means noble on its own.

With that said, Rango does offer a light at the end of the tunnel. Our protagonist eventually personifies every tall-tale he created for himself, but it wasn't without inherent virtue. The film presents a rather tacid condemnation of the idea of "starting over", but it does assure us that, if such a starting point ultimately leads to a greater life purpose in serving those around you, the effort can ultimately act as a wakeup call. It is interpreted as more of a course-correcting measure than something inherently worthwhile, and it does ensure through no small series of misfortunes on the protagonist's part that you may only enter the gates of a new life if you've earned it.

It's an optimistic and surprisingly poignant message in an otherwise rustic, Western film. In fact, that goes to show you that the opposite of "starting over" can also yield great results. For some, the answer to life's meaning lies deep within the anals of history, while for others, it exists only if you blaze a new trail to find it. A mix of both philosophies is only healthy.

With an 88% approval rating by critics, Rango is one of the highest-rated animated films ever published by Paramount Pictues.
Despite earning little more than its budget upon release, the film continues to earn recognition as a surreal masterpiece more than a decade later.