The Little Revisionist Western Kids Comedy That Could

So, a while back, my family took me out for my birthday to see the latest contender for Best Animated Film of the Year, Rango. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Confused, yes, but in a good way. You see, the film was produced by none other than Nickelodeon Movies who, as a company, are noted for making kids stuff.

Never forget.

And Rango was billed no differently - a silly kids comedy about a talking lizard who gets lost in the desert and discovers an Old West-style society of other talking animals, and they make fart jokes for the children and thinly veiled sexual innuendos for the parents who are still listening. But, dear reader, that is a lie. Whatever Nickelodeon told you about this film is a complete and utter falsity (well, no, there are still a few fart jokes). Rango is a kids comedy in much the same way Disney/PIXAR's UP was. That is to say, hardly at all. While UP lured you in with its promise of heartwarming adventure and the occasional joke, only to dehydrate your tear ducts for the other hour and a half of the film, Rango entices you with silly characters, harrowing action scenes, and the rustic charm of the American West, but it delivers so much more in the form of strong dramatic narrative and thematic existentialism threaded throughout. That is my warning to those of you who have yet to enjoy this brilliant little film: THIS IS NOT A KIDS COMEDY. This is a surprisingly dense revisionist western wrapped up in a kids comedy quesadilla. And if you're anything like me, you'll need to see it more than once.