The Lone Ranger: Better when he’s not a solitary man

In Gore Verbinksi’s re-imagining of The Lone Ranger, by-the-book prosecutor John Reid (Armie Hammer) heads west to dispense justice beside his Texas Ranger brother. Double-crossed by a tracker, Reid’s brother and his team are ambushed and left for dead by the ultimate bad guy, Butch Cavendish (the long under-appreciated William Fichtner). The remainder of the movie is ostensibly about Reid’s resurrection and tireless pursuit of justice for his brother. There are quite a few extraneous characters and plot points tossed in that elongate the film by about 45 minutes too many, but the only real storyline worth following is the evolution of the Lone Ranger’s friendship with Comanche outcast, Tonto (Johnny Depp).When the two aren’t on-screen together, the movie suffers.

The tale of the rise of an icon is relayed in flashbacks shared by Tonto, now a relic playing his part in a Wild West sideshow for a traveling fair, for the benefit of a young child dressed in tribute to the masked man himself. The device allows some chronological play with the storytelling and keeps us guessing about the reliability of the old Native American as narrator.

Johnny Depp is great as the old and young Tonto—creating the right mix of humor, eccentricity and dignity to the role of a sidekick who is often in charge behind the scenes. Armie Hammer makes for a likable reluctant hero who lacks some effectiveness at the start due to inexperience and an internal struggle with rabid idealism.  But an overly complicated script, unexplained oddities (like the appearance of flesh-eating bunnies)and Butch’s incredible ability to escape the Lone Ranger’s clutches cause a severe loss of momentum around the midway mark.

This movie has been much maligned, with critics calling it an incredible fail. We had enough fun to recommend it. For us, even with its shortcomings, it’s more powerful than the recent Man of Steel Superman reboot.