In Defense of The Lone Ranger

I have a couple of other movie reviews coming that I probably should have finished sooner, but I felt the need to speed through this one and get it up, because there has been a TON of negativity surrounding this film.

I read multiple reviews totally trashing The Lone Ranger and because of that, going into the movie, my expectations were rather low. The reviews bashed Johnny Depp, bashed the story, bashed the filmmakers, bashed Helena Bonham Carter and her ivory gun-leg and basically just hated every possible thing they could about the movie.

One of their claims was that it was not true to the original show. I can't argue with that, since I've never seen it, but even if it is true, my response would be to just enjoy the film for what it is. The film makers were not trying to make an exact replica of an old show, they were trying to make their own version of a classic story. Coincidentally, that's the same response I have for super-nerds who hate on The Lord of the Rings because they didn't follow the books EXACTLY how they were written. 

One of the worst accusations leveled against the movie was that casting Johnny Depp to play Tonto was just the same as if someone made a movie wearing blackface. That's a completely ridiculous claim. Blackface was used to ridicule African Americans, and there was nothing about this movie in any way that tried to make fun of Native Americans. Frankly, Johnny Depp was great in the role, and I can't see anyone else playing Tonto. Johnny Depp made this film what it was, and without him it would not have been the same.

So, if you cant tell from how strongly I am defending it, I loved this movie. I loved it so much more than I expected to. Having read all the terrible reviews, I went in with such low expectations, that I was completely blown away with how much I enjoyed it. It was just plain fun. There was plenty to pick on if you wanted a "Realistic" movie, but I wasn't looking for realism. There was a woman with a prosthetic leg that doubled as a gun. I don't think realism is an option at that point. The whole movie was so over the top that no rational person should legitimately criticize it for being unrealistic. That's not the kind of movie it was trying to be. The last half hour alone was so completely insane and ridiculous (In the best possible way, of course) that if you still find fault with it for its lack of realism, then you completely missed the point of the movie.

The Lone Ranger is exciting, hilarious, and just plain fun. I loved it, and if you aren't a snooty movie critic who wants to shred the film to pieces, you will too. Watch it, you won't regret it.