Extra Cinema: The Lone Ranger (15)

Director: Gore Verbinski.

Starring: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson and Helena Bonham Carter.

Running time: 2hrs 29mins.

IT’S been talked about for months, this film, with people criticising it before ever having seen it, while others praise it for having Depp in it.

I’d have to say, given an option, that I would be in the latter camp.

Depp has shown an amazing versatility and diversity in the roles he has opted for in the past.

And with Tonto, he has a lot of fun as the outcast native American who, reluctantly, teams up with lawman John Reid on a quest to rescue the latter’s sister-in-law and capture the bad guy, Butch Cavendish.

It does seem strange that Depp would take the role of the sidekick to the much-lesser-known Hammer’s Ranger, — but when you see the fun he has with the role there is no doubt he made the right decision.

That said, Hammer — who played the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network — is just stuffy enough to carry off the role of a man who always looks to the law and justice before moving an inch.

Also worthy of note is Helena Bonham Carter, playing the madam with a shotgun in her wooden leg.

Tremendous fun all round.

Rating: 8/10