OVP: The Lone Ranger (2013)

Film: The Lone Ranger (2013)
Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Ruth Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter
Director: Gore Verbinski
Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Visual Effects)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Going to a film that you're supposed to hate is like going on a date that your friends are forcing you to attend.  You do it because you have to for some reason-maybe to be polite, maybe because the date is part of the OVP-whatever the reason you begrudgingly shove the DVD into the player or you head to the bar and then, suddenly, something weird happens.  You kind of like it.  That was the case for me when I saw The Lone Ranger for the first time-I genuinely didn't hate it, and was absolutely certain that I would.

This was weird for me because, quite frankly, the film looked awful from the trailers and the reviews agreed with that point.  The film was a giant flop, one that threatens to stall out Johnny Depp's career and has put yet another nail in the Armie Hammer leading man coffin (do you think he and Taylor Kitsch just sit around staring in mirrors wondering how men that are so pretty just can't seem to sell tickets to movies?).

However, I just didn't see the movie everyone else did.  Sure, the film occasionally veers into the cloying or cartoonish-the scenes with Depp as the world's oldest indian are pretty stupid and I thought a couple of the earlier jokes with Depp's character seemed eye-roll worthy, but overall, this is a fun adventure film.  The movie tells the tale of the Lone Ranger's origins, and like all origin stories it is tried-and-true territory, but that's not to say that it isn't fun.  Depp occasionally shows the reason why we loved him so much in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean (for the record, this film is enjoyable-that film is classic Errol Flynn quality moviemaking), and Helena Bonham Carter hasn't been this amusing in a long while.

Even more than the acting, Gore Verbinski has gotten superb at crafting action sequences and keeping the plots of his movies speeding along.  Like Pirates, this movie has a largely paint-by-numbers plot but still keeps the movie going with terrific sight gags and breathtaking action sequences.  The best moment in the film (and surely what won it a Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination) is toward the end of the film with an absolutely jaw-dropping sequence of a train chase through the backdrop of the American West.  In the hands of a lesser director (cough, Michael Bay), we'd simply marvel at the brilliant effects, but Verbinski keeps heart-stopping action and you get caught up in what will happen next.  Verbinski and most directors of large budget films get dealt a tough hand when the audience is aware of exactly what will happen in the end of the movie (the Lone Ranger will surely ride again, with Tonto by his side), but a good director will be able to help you forget about this, which Verbinski does.

The film also spends a good deal of time paying homage to great westerns before it-you frequently see visual allusions to Little Big Man and The Searchers, and the plot is heavily similar to Once Upon a Time in the West, perhaps the greatest western ever made.  This occasionally feels like a bit of a retread, but Hollywood films so frequently borrow from each other (and the films/filmmakers that Verbinski is emulating are so damn good) that it's hard to fault the moviemakers.

Honestly, and I do mean this honestly-did the critics truly just pre-judge this movie and not actually see it, or give it a chance?  Because that's the concern here.  I mean, we're not talking about a Wizard of Oz level film where it is absolutely a masterpiece but the film-reviewing community says it isn't, but I feel like the movie, which was terribly-marketed and probably needed less reliance on its "we're-tired-of-him" star Depp, was judged ahead of time.  The film's stars, director, and producer have all stated that they thought the film was unfairly maligned, and I'm on their side here.  The movie is not great (too repetitive, some comic bits fall-through), but it's hardly a bad movie, and definitely one worth renting if you have the chance.

What were your thoughts-did you think this film was unfairly attacked?  If so, what do you think the cause was?  And do you think it deserved its two Oscar nominations?  Share in the comments!