Thankfully, that leaves the door wide open for Rango. The weird, wild Western opened in March, galloping across the cinematic desert to year's end, wrangling favorable reactions from critics and audiences along the way. The film marks the first fully-animated effort from special effects studio Industrial Light & Magic (the folks behind Star Wars and a zillion other blockbusters that have left you awestruck in the last thirty years) as well as director Gore Verbinski's (Mouse Hunt, The Ring, the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) debut animated outing. Throw in living cartoon Johnny Depp as the titular character and you have a prestigious pedigree for a medium that's classified by many as "for children." In other words, a viable awards contender and a highly entertaining flick.
Rango may look ordinary with its anthropomorphic talking animal stars, but ingrained in the family friendly setup are exhilarating action sequences, existential musings and a whole lot of oddball comedy. Kids won't get all the references to classic Westerns or Hunter S. Thompson, but then again, they're not the ones voting. Gore Verbinski stands the best chance at walking away with a handful of accolades for Best Animated Feature, thank to Rango's unique design and cinematic choices. ILM's foundation of live-action special effects elevates the animation, mirroring real life lighting conditions and camera movement. Verbinski takes full advantage, and the movie's multiple chase scenes are prime examples.
But a movie can't rely solely on flashy special effects, and at Rango's core is an excellent, inventive script by John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, The Last Samurai). The screenplay riffs on cinematic storytelling tropes ("A stranger comes to town…) and Hollywood classics (Rango shares similarities to Chinatown and Clint Eastwood Westerns), while giving Depp plenty of material in which to work his manic magic. An original screenplay nomination for Logan would be much deserved.
In a perfect world, Depp's performance as the Lizard With No Name would also have a shot at awards. The dialogue in Rango was recorded in a unique fashion—the actors were actually on a set, dressed in costumes, playing their parts like a stage show. It was a physical production, rather than the usual recording booth solitary experience. This adds unexpected energy to the characters of Rango that's evident in the final product. That said, a voice performance has never been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, so don't get your hopes up.
Pixar may have shepherded a new era of animation, one that's taken seriously by award voters, but with Ragno, ILM mines the real creative potential of the animated blockbuster. If you haven't caught up with one of 2011's real treasures, make sure to check it out on Blu-ray—there's a good chance we'll be seeing this one at the Oscars.
hollywood.com
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