Kemo sabe has uneven spirit

THE LONE RANGER (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"The Lone Ranger" is hardly a total washout but it has tonal shifts the size of bulldozers trying to operate during a rampaging tornado season. Within the first hour, the film works wonders, appropriating the right tone and spirit of that Masked Man. The middle section has too much padding and unnecessary twists and too many villains, and then the finale works up its old-fashioned spirit again.

We are back in Colby, Texas with John Reid (Armie Hammer), a John Locke admirer, as the attorney who is deputized as a Texas Ranger by his brother, Dan (James Badge Dale). Before you know it, the next reel sets in with the escape of the nasty, murderous Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner), a cannibal of all things. The Rangers approach the Cavendish gang's hideout and guns are ablazin', and I imagine most Lone Ranger fans know what happens next. John Reid is the only surviving Ranger, saved by Tonto (Johnny Depp), a smart Comanche warrior who senses the Ranger is just another dumb white man. A mask is adorned by John, the white horse Silver appears, a silver bullet is created by Tonto, need I say more? Apparently so, because the story segues into a plot involving a fearless railroad tycoon (Tom Wilkinson), the Cavalry killing a bunch of Comanches, and the separation of Tonto from Lone Ranger for far too long. When they reunite, there is a lot of humorous bickering between them but not much in the way of chemistry. Still, how can a Ranger compete with Johnny Depp's inspired performance.

Directed by Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean"), "The Lone Ranger" is moderately entertaining though there are a couple of lulls before the story gets revved up again. The main issue is the tone which is everywhere except where it needs to be. Part of the charm of "The Lone Ranger" is that it was always meant to be old-fashioned escapism where the Masked Man followed a certain moral code (never kill anyone) and Tonto was always his second banana. This version has Tonto in fierce defiance of his white friend, and I appreciate that they took it in that direction. Aside from that difference, the movie is practically a Warner Bros. cartoon, especially in the endless train collisions and derring do of the final act. But the movie also features a Butch Cavendish who eats the heart of his murdered victims, and there are rabbits with canine teeth who must have run away from the set of "Night of the Lepus"! There is also the slaughter of a whole tribe that doesn't mesh with the cartoonish violence we see throughout. All this told from the point-of-view of a Tonto posing as a mannequin at a 1930's San Francisco Fair! Huh?

If nothing else, this bastardized yet colorful version is ten times better than the dull 1981 remake. But there is no comparing to the real Lone Ranger - the one and only Clayton Moore who made him iconic. Armie Hammer is no Clayton Moore, yet Johnny Depp stands up to the task in his revisionist update of that most noble savage, Tonto. I enjoyed about 6/10 of this bizarre popcorn movie but its infrequent and brutally violent elements and severely uneven tone almost ruin what could have been a far livelier adventure movie.