Rango
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: March 4, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TimeRichard CorlissMar 3, 2011
No goggles, no gloom. And no competition for the coolest, orneriest, funniest, best-looking movie of early 2011. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliMar 3, 2011
It is, all in all, off its rocker. But it's gorgeous. Read full review
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 3, 2011
Rango, which may take place entirely within its hero's head - that kind of ambiguity worked in "Inception" and "Black Swan," so why not here? - is about the appetite for myths and stories, whether or not they make sense. It is about the worlds we dream inside our fishbowls, helped by the weird reflections on the walls. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMar 3, 2011
Verbinski's greatest triumph is that he allowed the animation to free rather that confine him. There is indeed a new sheriff in town, with Rango destined to become a classic. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 2, 2011
Rango is some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical, and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2-D. Read full review
100
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 2, 2011
Rango is wild, woolly and weird, and the first movie of 2011 that I must see again. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 4, 2011
The best of Rango is a lot like the best of the first "Pirates" movie – crazily funny and rambunctious. Read full review
90
NPRBob MondelloMar 3, 2011
An animated western that's effortlessly the most exhilarating flight of computer-drawn fancy since "Ratatouille." Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterMar 1, 2011
Most exceptional is the visual style, which makes even the best animated 3D look like a poor cousin. Read full review
90
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyMar 1, 2011
Wonderfully animated, witty and wildly imaginative. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 1, 2011
Johnny Depp isn't the sort of star to blend in, so it's saying something that his turn as the world's most conspicuous chameleon in Rango is so full-bodied, you forget the actor and focus on the character. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 7, 2011
Rango is the poster child for those who are anti-3-D, and a great reminder that genuine creativity doesn't need a gimmicky crutch to appeal to audiences. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMar 4, 2011
Rango is iconic like a spaghetti Western, smart like a '70s conspiracy thriller and lively like a Coen brothers comedy. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellMar 4, 2011
The funny and powerfully weird Rango is probably the closest I've seen a big-budget, computer-animated feature get to the comic vibe of my favorite Chuck Jones cartoons -- specifically, the Bugs/Porky Western spoof "Drip-Along Daffy." Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMar 3, 2011
The latest collaboration between Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean") and Johnny Depp is sharp-edged, surreal, and often astonishing in its giddy creativity. What it is not, however, is a family film. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 3, 2011
I've made a good case for seeing Rango, and why not; an eye feast is still a feast in this lean multiplex season. Be advised, though, of the film's peculiar deficits. The narrative isn't really dramatic, despite several send-up face-offs. It's more like a succession of picturesque notions that might have flowed from DreamWorks or Pixar while their story departments were out to lunch. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 3, 2011
It's hyperactive, often hilarious and ultimately exhausting. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 2, 2011
It's refreshing to see an animated movie that doesn't look as though the idea for the Happy Meal came first. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 3, 2011
It is Depp, however, who really nails this thing by simply blending in with all the other voice talent and characters and not reverting to the oversized Captain Jack Sparrow swagger. Rango becomes the hero of his own story, and for this he needs no stinkin' badge. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickMar 4, 2011
By the end I was getting a bit antsy from the rambling script and direction. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyMar 3, 2011
Though its level of execution is consistently high, Rango is a non-pandering comedy that takes its message of western individualism seriously: It's here for you and your children to enjoy – or not – as you please. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 3, 2011
Depp possesses one of the finest speaking voices in the business - a nimble, mellifluous instrument that can go from sexy growl to fey warble in no seconds flat. Read full review
75
MovielineStephanie ZacharekMar 2, 2011
To paraphrase something Quentin Tarantino once said about Sergio Corbucci, Verbinski loves the uglies. They return the favor by looking almost beautiful. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallMar 3, 2011
This features the usual slapstick, double entendres, and riffs on classic films, but what elevates it above a cheeky romp is the skilled CGI work, not only the wealth of tactile detail lavished on the parched townsfolk but also the painterly, sand-swept vistas they call home. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonMar 3, 2011
Ignoring the weak storyline entirely, Rango is a joyously weird experience. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumMar 2, 2011
The biggest strike against Rango, though - for both the movie and the hero - is that the lizard is so damn ugly. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 3, 2011
The result is an odd, occasionally engaging but often cacophonous mishmash. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 3, 2011
Rango is like nothing you've ever seen. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 3, 2011
You can feel the actors tossing energy, one-liners, and limbs off each other with gusto. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyMar 3, 2011
Rango is best enjoyed by those over 10 who have an idea of what "existential" means and can appreciate a surreal mashup of "Chinatown," "Gladiator," "High Noon," and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Read full review
60
EmpireKim NewmanMar 5, 2011
A certain percentage of the audience will instantly sieze on this as their favorite movie of all time, and a small, but not insignificant demographic will have nightmares. Verbinski and Depp probably like it that way. Read full review
50
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreMar 2, 2011
Fitfully amusing or not, the whole demented enterprise of Rango comes into question when you're that tone-deaf about what's appropriate for children. Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick SchagerMar 1, 2011
For all its genre-bending cleverness and technical dexterity, Rango's overstuffed plot fails to consistently blend its brainy pretensions with its chase-and-slapstick family-film obligations. Like Dirt's H2O supply, laughs are scarce. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 2, 2011
Several quick-witted touches-such as a hilarious nod to Depp's role in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"-can't make up for Gore Verbinski's leaden direction of this digitally animated feature. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 3, 2011
It is, for what it is, a work of considerable care and craft. And it's completely soulless. Read full review
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