The Lone Ranger

Ignore the anti-hype of this 1950s remake because quite frankly there is nothing more enjoyable than watching Johnny Depp cast as yet another outlandish character. Fans of The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy can rejoice in the return of the director Gore Verbinski who heads the team behind this Western adventure.

With a nod towards the 1930s when the story of Lone Ranger was first heard on a Detroit radio station, the film begins when a young boy happens upon a rather decrepit Native American at a funfair. What the character lacks in youth he makes up for with his inspired account of John Reid: the Lone Ranger.
It transpires that perhaps this man is more than what meets the eye…

A chance encounter pairs stuffy law-graduate John Reid (Armie Hammer, The Social Network) with an unwitting Tonto (Depp) and so their adventure begins: tracking down the heinous villain whose grisly habits catapult this film a little further from its 12A rating. The action sequences, including grand-scale train crashes, high-speed horse chases, and gun-wielding cowboys, come thick and fast from the start. The film’s rumbustious fun is unrelenting and unforgiving.

The supporting cast including Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner (Black Hawk Down), Helena Bonham Carter and Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) are superb and compliment Depp and Hammer’s performances without stealing the limelight. The two male leads even manage to emulate that love-hate relationship seen three times before between Orlando Bloom and Depp in Verbinski’s Caribbean trilogy – a great feat considering the swashbuckling success of its pirate predecessor!

The narrative of The Lone Ranger is straightforward and uncomplicated. Its lack of ingenuity is the only let down as the age-old struggle between the Native Americans and the white man has been revisited numerous times; more often than not with the same consequences.

However, with an absolutely tremendous supporting soundtrack courtesy of composer Hans Zimmer, and the constant trials and tribulations that Reid and his spiritual sidekick face, the film’s two-and-a-half-hour running time goes unnoticed.

For a fantastical Western adventure this summer, this movie should not be missed.

Jennifer Atkinson

The Lone Ranger is released nationwide on 9^th August 2013.

Watch the trailer for The Lone Ranger here: