The Lone Ranger (2013)

Armie Hammer is John Reid, a young lawyer who’s just been named prosecutor in the county where his brother Dan serves as sheriff. He’s on a train bound for Colby, Texas.

Also on the train is a vicious killer named Butch Cavendish, who has a date with a hangman’s noose, and an Indian named Tonto, who has spent 26 years waiting for the day he can send Cavendish’s evil spirit back into the earth.

Well, the Cavendish gang has other ideas. They spring their leader free, partly thanks to John Reid’s insistence that justice comes in a court of law, not from a deadly bullet.

Dan Reid puts together a posse of Texas Rangers to bring back the killer; John rides along.

What they don’t know is that their guide and lifelong friend, a man named Collins, is about to lead them into ambush.

Most of the Rangers are killed; Dan and John are mortally wounded. And then Cavendish shows up to cut out Dan’s heart, just to settle an old score.

But Tonto soon arrives and saves John Reid at the insistence of a white stallion he considers a spirit horse.

And they set out to bring justice to Cavendish, though their ideas of how that justice would be best dispensed aren’t necessarily the same.

Along the way, they discover a devious plot involving a fortune in silver. And the mastermind behind that plot isn’t the psychopathic killer named Cavendish.

Review:

Forget the negative reviews and the fact that was a box office disaster. Give the film a chance and you might be surprised. I can’t imagine any fan of Westerns not being thoroughly entertained.

There’s plenty of action, including remarkably well-done train scenes at the opening and at the climax. The budding partnership between John Reid and Tonto delivers plenty of laughs.

There’s a twist you might or might not see coming in terms of the real villain. There’s even a hint of romance since John Reid has long been in love with the now widowed wife (Ruth Wilson as Rebecca) of his brother.

The film borrows too heavily from the Westerns that preceded it to be considered a classic. But in terms of recent big-budget Westerns, this is one of the best you’ll find.

Directed by:
Gore Verbinski

Cast:
Johnny Depp … Tonto
Armie Hammer … John Reid (Lone Ranger)
William Fichtner … Butch Cavendish
Tom Wilkinson … Latham Cole
Ruth Wilson … Rebecca Reid
Helena Bonham Carter … Red Harrington
James Badge Dale … Dan Reid
Bryant Prince … Danny Reid
Barry Pepper … Capt. Jay Fuller
Mason Cook … Will (young boy at circus)
Leon Rippy … Collins
Stephen Root … Habberman
Saginaw Grant … Chief Big Bear
Harry Treadaway … Frank

Runtime: 149 min.

Memorable lines:

Butch Cavendish to Dan Reid as he prepares to cut out his heart: “You take something from me. You can be damn sure I’m gonna take something from you.”

John Reid (Lone Ranger): “What do you want with me?”
Tonto: “A vision told me a great warrior and spirit walker would help me on my quest. I would have preferred someone else. Your brother, perhaps. He would have been good. But who am I to question the great father.”

John Reid (Lone Ranger): “A silver bullet?”
Tonto: “Silver made him what he is. And so will return him to the earth.”

Tonto: “Blood has been spilled Kimosabe. And, soon, rivers run red.”

Tonto, after the Lone Ranger downs two of Cavendish’s men with one bullet: “Great shot.”
John Reid (Lone Ranger): “That was supposed to be a warning shot.”
Tonto: “Then not so good.”

John Reid (Lone Ranger): “Kimosabe – why do you keep calling me that?”
Tonto: “Wrong brother.”

Johnny Depp as Tonto, shocked by what he’s witnessing from the train in The Lone Ranger (2013)

James Badge Dale as Dan Reid, leading the Texas Ranger detail in an attempt to recapture Butch Cavendish in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Bryant Prince as Danny Reid, son of Texas Ranger Dan Reid and Rebecca Reid in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Armie Hammer as John Reid, aka The Lone Ranger, disagreeing with Tonto over the approach to take in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Johnny Depp as Tonto, up to his neck in trouble in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Saginaw Grant as Chief Big Bear, imparting words of wisdom to John Reid in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Joseph E. Foy as young Tonto, tormented by what happened to his village because of a secret he revealed in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Barry Pepper as Capt. Jay Fuller, a cavalry officer looking to Indians to kill and glory in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Stephen Root as Habberman, getting ready to celebrate the completion of the railroad in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Mason Cook as Will, the young Lone Ranger fan who visits the circus in San Francisco and meets an aging Tonto in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Johnny Depp, posing in the San Francisco circus when young Will happens by to hear his story in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Helena Bonham Carter as Red Harrington, the brothel owner with a score to settle in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Ruth Wilson as Rebecca Reid, reacting to Latham Cole’s advances in The Lone Ranger (2013)

William Fichtner as Butch Cavendish, ready to settle an old score with a Texas Ranger in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Tom Wilkinson as Latham Cole, realizing his celebration might be a bit premature in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Johnny Depp as Tonto, ready to end Butch Cavendish’s outlaw career in The Lone Ranger (2013)

Armie Hammer as John Reid, aka The Lone Ranger, balking at the notion of ending Butch Cavendish’s life in The Lone Ranger (2013)