The Lone Ranger or a Shadow of Jack Sparrow

“The Lone Ranger”, the super ambitious production that brings back together the dream team behind “Pirates of the Caribbean”, intended to turn the western into a blockbuster. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Gore Verbinski and star Johnny Depp joined forces in hopes of launching a new franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean” style. “The Lone Ranger” does not have the force of that series, but remains a thriller that would have been trivial, if it had been without the brilliant interpretation of Johnny Depp. Unfortunately, Tonto looks too much like Jack Sparrow and too little with the original character from the 50s.

Johnny Depp, whose movies you can watch on demand thanks to Charter Cable, had been “hunting” for the part of Indian for a while. The actor said that his grandmother is Native American and he was even adopted the Comanche tribes to better understand how to play the role of Tonto, the hero of The Lone Ranger.

In this modern adaptation of the adventures described in the series with the same name from the ‘50s, the brave Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) tells the unwritten story of John Reid (Armi Hammer) and how he was transformed from a lawman in a legend of justice in the Wild West after his brother is killed.

“The Lone Ranger” was meant to be one of the biggest productions of the year, and although it has a super professional team behind, the story is too easy. The biggest mistake of this film is that it hasn’t found adirection. The idea to implement a version of Jack Sparrow in the Wild West cannot save an entire film, in which, besides a few jokes, nothing seems to come out right.

Sure, the film looks flawless, the stunts are spectacular and it looks like Gore Verbinski gave his best to portray the western atmosphere as truthful as possible. But the major problem is in the script: there are important themes that have not been sufficiently developed. John Reid’s transition from a lawman to an outlaw occurs too late in the film and his motivation is not well orchestrated and in the end you are left with a feeling that Reid actually needed a job more than he a fight in the name of justice.

The genocide  ofNative American tribes theme is treated superficially and with too much humor in certain moments, making it ridiculous. Verbinski wanted to direct those dramatic moments making use of quite bloody scenes, but they lose their significance towards the end.

You can hardly see the two legendary heroes together in action, and as usual, the writers have fallen into the same trap: they brought in the first line a romantic story  between John Reed and his brother’s widow,  when, in fact, fans want to see the adventures of the two, which turned them into legends.

Al things considered, “The Lone Ranger” should be taken as such: a modest thriller, saved by humor and Johnny Depp, at the end of which you leave the theatre smiling. But not even the great Johnny Depp can support an entire movie by himself and Tonto seems only a pale shadow of Jack Sparrow.