Now I came up with all this in retrospection, my reaction after coming out of the film was quite a different one. I was annoyed, angry, and tired. WHY??? Because, you see, Rango is being advertised as a kids film/family film. Now what does that mean, you may ask?? Well that means that a normally quiet theatre is invaded by loud, rambunctious children. Children were running up and down the aisles, kids could be heard laughing their tiny heads off at some of the more serious moments in the film (because Rango made a funny face, or walked a little funny, or said something that kids thought was funny). I had the misfortune of sitting in front of three of said kids. Of course, my reaction to the film was somewhat tainted by these little monsters, but I'll get to that later.
First, let us address the issue of Rango as a kids film. Is it even a kids film? Well let's see: It's got mature themes, a pretty adult story, it's a western, it's got a menacing rattlesnake, and it deals with some pretty serious issues about dehydration, authority, and the need to believe in something. Does all this sound like something a five year old could fully appreciate? Rango is either the greatest kids movie in the history of film, or it's not a kids movie....PERIOD. That's right, despite it's cutesy trailers and Nickelodeon's producing it (Thumbs up to them by the way, They took a real risk with this film and it paid off. It's always great to see Nickelodeon stepping it up and allowing a pretty adult film to associate itself with their studio) Rango is NOT a kids film. Imagine that, an animated film that's not geared mainly at kids, how revolutionary is that idea??!! I look forward to a future where animated films can be made for 20-somethings and over and are not marketed at kids out of fear of stepping out of the norm these days and doing something different.For all of the risks the film takes and out of all the things that it decides to do differently, the one thing that would have really impressed me it failed to do...and that was market itself to its real demographic...Adults (and older teens to a certain extent). For some strange reason someone decided that Rango was a kids film/family film and was marketed as such (If they had actually taken time to watch the damned film they would have seen that it was a weird, surreal western and not kiddie fare). It also doesn't help that most parents see the PG rating and automatically assume the film is for kids. Either way, because of stupid parents and dumb marketing decisions kids flocked in droves like a bunch of angry, loud seagulls to Rango which brings us to my experience.
Let me start out by stating that this is not the first time this has happened to me. It's also occurred in films like Coraline, Gnomeo and Juliet, Beowulf, etc but to be fair these films (with the exception of Beowulf) were actually kids films. My experiences in these films were also not as severe as my experience in Rango was, as in that the kids did not directly distract me from the film itself. In Rango the three little monsters behind were talking from the minute they sat down to the minute they left the theatre. Now this in itself would not be enough to truly bother me, but these kids took the extra step. They would occasionally pummel the back of my seat with their feet, it was almost like they were trying to push me to my breaking point. It took all my self control for me not to turn around and scream at those little brats. As you can imagine, this easily took me out of the movie and distracted me from what was going on on screen. This is why I wish I had waited for Rango on DVD, where I could watch it in the quiet of my room. (As of 7/30/11 I finally had the opportunity to sit down in the comfort of my own home and watch Rango on my blu-ray player. Let me say it really is a magnificent, superb film that is required viewing for any adult. The animation is stunning, the character design is inspired and delightfully wacky, the story respects the western while also lightly satirizing it. Not to mention the main character of Rango is wonderfully unique. He is a wanna-be thespian that lives in his own secluded world, he is a lonely creature that doesn't realize how lonely he actually is until he is thrust out of his glass box. Once outside he goes through an identity crisis that lasts pretty much throughout the whole film. While Rango does have a few jokes that are aimed at kids, and while I do believe that kids could definitely enjoy it, that doesn't change the fact that a good 90 % of the film has references, themes, and jokes that will soar high above the little ones heads. by all means, watch it with your kids, explain it to them, maybe it will make them more well cultured, but that doesn't change the fact that Rango really is not a kids film in the end. I must say this is probably the best animated film I have ever senn, no joke,. If Rango does not win the best animated film of the year then I have officially lost all hope in the Oscars. 5/5 stars- Better than Sex)
Why do parents insist on bringing their kids with them to every film that is PG-13 and under? Are they too lazy to hire a babysitter for the night??? It's the same deal with TV censorship. Parents complain about content shown on TV, well guess what??? Maybe if you spent time monitoring what your kids are watching they wouldn't be exposed to all that nasty stuff that you complain about. I find it funny they complain about bad stuff on Tv and then whisk their kids out to see an R rated movie like Take Me Home Tonight( that's right, there were several 7-10 year olds in the audience to that film...and those kids were laughing at stuff that wasn't even funny). So the bottom line here is that parents need to be more active in their kids lives and actually think before they take them to a movie or let them watch a certain show. Don't blame the kids, blame who brought them to the theatre.
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