In the 1930s, an elderly Tonto tells a young boy the story of John Reid and how this man of the law turned into the Lone Ranger. John Reid, together with his brother and other rangers are in pursuit of the notorious Butch Cavendish but find themselves ambushed and left for dead. Tonto, a Comanche, reluctantly helps John Reid with the insistence of a white horse that is said to be a spirit. John Reid is brought back to life by the white spirit horse and together with Tonto, they must bring Butch Cavendish to justice. But as they go on their journey, they soon find out that they have more enemies to face aside from Cavendish himself.
I would like to believe that the short summary I wrote here sounds very exciting and would make me want to see the movie. That's my way of making me feel better whenever I think about this movie.
Straight to the point, what makes this movie a failure is its bland and draggy script. To think this is an action only makes it worse. It had a lot of nerves to run for more than two hours but cannot even keep up to its promise of keeping the audience entertained and alive. 30 minutes into the film, I felt obligated to finish it just for my money's worth. The film did not have that emotional drive for the audience to relate to. I felt like there was an invisible wall between me and the screen when I was watching it. Very ironic since the two main characters had to go through a lot of hell in their lives yet you would feel no sympathy for them at all. You are very much aware that this is only a movie and none of this is real. That's probably the main reason why it felt so long and draggy. Another reason would have to be in relation to the main character himself, the Lone Ranger. It took more than an hour for him to realize that the mask means something to him. The character development was so slow that by the time he finally accepts the title of the Lone Ranger, everyone watching it would only say "Finally!" It would always come to a point wherein I would start looking for something that it missed or something that is supposed to be there but is taking too long to be revealed. As a result, during the climax of the movie, some of them felt cliche and predictable. As I mentioned, you already know what will happen, you just need to have the patience to wait for it.
However, not all is worth despising. Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp made a good team. Their humor would most often give a few laughs and giggles whenever the movie would start to go downhill. The fact that they can keep the audience awake is already worth praising. Johnny Depp portrays the role of the Comanche Indians quite well. It was impressive since he actually learned how to speak the Comanche language. Just can't help but feel that somehow, a little Jack Sparrow made his way into this movie. Armie Hammer on the other hand did a commendable job with his acting skills. It could have been better but good try nonetheless.
I did find one aspect of this movie witty and worth noting. The story is told by an elderly Tonto so obviously the entire movie is a flashback sequence. However, once in a while, it would shift back to the present where we see the elderly Tonto still telling the story to the little boy and the little boy asking questions at the same time. It's like the movie is snapping its fingers at the viewers and keeping them all awake. It's its way of telling the audience that this is only a story being told by some American Indian to a boy at a fair in San Francisco. I find their approach of using the 'unreliable narrator' a smart move. It gives more variety and an explanation to all the plot holes in the film. By the end, you would be as confused as the little boy if the entire story was real or not. But just as Tonto replied, "Up to you."
Rating: 2/5
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