“The Lone Ranger” – Fantastic To Its Core!
This film, based on the iconic 1950s TV series gives the Native American warrior Tonto, played by Johnny Depp, top billing. “The Lone Ranger” tells the story of lawman John Reid and how he transforms into the Wild West legend known as the Lone Ranger. When justice is threatened by Butch Cavendish, John (Armie Hammer) teams up with Native American Warrior Tonto to save the day. The story is told by an elderly Tonto years after the Lone Ranger’s reign and begs the question, “Is the legend just a fable? Or, did this crusader of justice really roam the Wild West?” Our KIDS FIRST! Film Critics viewed it last week and, all of them loved it. “This movie is fantastic to its core!” claims Gerry O, age 11. “It is funny, entertaining, and very thrilling,” remarks Raven D, age 16. See their full reviews below.
The Lone Ranger
By Gerry O, age 11
Video review available here.
I already had an idea what this movie would be like, cowboys fighting each other. Based on all the stories about Lone Ranger, I also anticipated one of the characters would be the Indian, Tonto. I was right! This film is worth waiting for – amazing adventure, action, romance. It is funny and has the most gorgeous horse ever!
At first I thought this movie was about a cowboy and Indian fighting bad guys, I was very wrong! It starts off so nicely and ends so action packed!
The adventure begins when it’s 1930 and there’s an old western amusement park. A child is walking around dressed like the Lone Ranger and he goes to this exhibit where he finds Tonto the Indian. Tonto tells this boy about the story of the Lone Ranger who was being held captive in a train. The criminal escapes and a man helps Tonto escape as well. The train crashes but they and the passengers don’t get hurt. This man joins his brother to look for the criminal. The brother and everyone else in the group die but the man, whose name is John, lives. Tonto escapes jail and finds John and what’s called a spirit horse. The two men and the horse go on many adventures and run into many problems (that the horse usually ends up fixing!) as they search for the criminal. Along the way, they get a little surprise!
The movie is immaculate. The actors are great! I mean who doesn’t like Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp?! The cinematography is stupendous! Everything is just fantastic! There’s really nothing to complain about in this movie.
My favorite scene is when Tonto finds all the dead rangers. He digs up little graves and tries to take what he can from them. Thinking all of them are dead he goes to John and he tries to take something and then John wakes up. Tonto is all surprised and just knocks him out and starts putting sand back on him. The house saves John in this situation, but you have to watch the film to see the most hilarious scene of all.
Since this movie has quite a lot of action and quite a bit of violence as well, I recommend it for ages 12 and up. This movie is fantastic to its core so I give it 5 out 5 stars plus a few more if possible. This movie will be available in theaters everywhere July 3rd
The Lone Ranger
Reviewed by Raven D, age 16
Watch Raven’s video review here.
“The Lone Ranger” tells the story of lawman John Reid and how he transforms into the Wild West legend known as the Lone Ranger. When the justice is threatened by Butch Cavendish, John, played by Armie Hammer, teams up with Native American Warrior Tonto, played by Johnny Depp to save the day. The story is told by an elderly Tonto years after the Lone Ranger’s reign, so is the legend just a fable? Or, did this crusader of justice really roam the Wild West?
I enjoy this film a lot. I feel that the costumes, set and film location stay very true to the style of old westerns while also keeping the visuals interesting and giving it a modern quality. I really like all of the scenery shots, especially in the desert. The arches and wildlife views make good transitions and I enjoy the artistic vibe it brings to the screen. I love the makeup and prosthetics that were used on Johnny Depp when he plays the elderly version of Tonto. It is so realistic and incredible that I could hardly even tell it was Johnny Depp! I also really love that Silver, the Lone Rangers trusty steed, does the craziest things throughout the film. At the most random times Silver will just be in a tree, on a roof, wearing a hat…and nobody questions it. It brings a sense of playfulness and lightens the mood and seriousness of the film.
My favorite character is Tonto because Johnny Depp does an excellent job portraying this character. He says the funniest things and makes very comical remarks throughout the film, which I really enjoy. I did think this would be a serious film, but it was actually quite humorous and light-hearted and Tonto has a big part in that. Tonto has a dead bird that he wears on his head and he always tries to feed it which was hilarious to watch!
I recommend this film for ages 13 and up because of violence that typically goes along with westerns. I think “The Lone Ranger” is funny, entertaining, and very thrilling. I give it 4 out of 5 stars so be sure to check out the “Lone Ranger.”
