Review: The Lone Ranger

"This movie is really funny!"
"Best we have seen in a long time!"
Was the consensus walking out of the theater. I know, very counter to all the reviews the film has been receiving.
Maybe it was because we watched THE LONE RANGER in Durango, Colorado, the epicenter of the location shoots for the film, a friend who worked at the Strator Hotel had tales of Johnny Depp being in character when he returned to the hotel in the evening, with or without the bird, I do not know.
Or, maybe the fact that a year ago I had been working at the Steaming Bean Coffee shop over there and watched with amusement "pretty people" get their bios in order before joining the lines up at the college for The Lone Ranger extra cast call for "plump" one legged prostitutes,  a few sets of midget twins and skinny old Indians.
Like everyone else, over the last couple of months, the Lone Ranger trailers have built my anticipation for the declared summer blockbuster...

But like other's in the Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona come together at right angles and one can step from state to state at the monument, it was awfully fun to spot all the scenery in our backyard  that Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films filmed. All, I might add- far, far from the state  the legend was suppose to be based in. But that's okay- up here we are use to making up for things Texas lacks, like surreal scenery...

I drive by these red rock formations near Shiprock, New Mexico out in the Navajo Reservation on my way down to Albuquerque, here in the snow...

or where the Lone Ranger wakes up to a vertigo inducing scenery...

its out at Dead Horse Point, near Moab, Utah and there is an observation deck looking down at the Colorado river, about here...

 

There are many trains in THE LONE RANGER...

 

Our two local trains-  the Durango & Silverton...

 

here after the annual "Polar Express" trip complete with Santa and singing chefs,

and the Cumbres & Toltec, which we happened to see on our way home from Taos this weekend, going over Cumbres Pass...

are all dressed up in 1800's style.

We even were here, not that long ago....

in Creede, Colorado, for a friend's wedding, and took a drive right past where they filmed next to the head waters of the Rio Grande River and stayed in the motel where the crew stayed while filming, the management saying everyone was real nice and respectful...

I know the movie has gotten a lot of criticism - that Depp's portrayal of Tonto was just Captain Jack Sparrow in face paint. Yes, on occasion there was flashbacks of "Pirates"- but it was still a fun ride.

Armie Hammer, most know as Prince Charming in MIRROR, MIRROR with Julia Roberts...

the perfect straight man for Depp's comedics...

 

And a rare treat was being in a theater with Natives from both Utes and Navajos in the audience, probably some related to or friends of the extras that portrayed the Comanches...

 

 

There was much laughter, applauding and whispering, when nearby locals were recognized, but the biggest cheer in the theater was the last scene, when Silver, the Lone Rancher's horse rear ups into the iconic pose....

 

Well in the long shot, you can see the Sleeping Ute Mountain in the distance, which I could see out my window, if not for the pinon trees and the haze from the wildfires we have right now in SW Colorado, here is view of the mountain range in the winter, that the legend says will one day wake up from his nap and stomp out all the Whites in the valley...