'Lone Ranger' Critics: An 'Overlong Time-Waster' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Clone
"Lone Ranger" critics didn't hold back when it came to the reviews for the film. The action western, complete with Johnny Depp as Native American counterpart Tonto, was widely panned, with many saying the movie was too convoluted and too long.
"Lone Ranger" critics gave the film terrible ratings on RottenTomatoes.com, with the film getting a 23 percent- the only comparably bad major films recently have been "The Internship" with 37 percent and "After Earth," which tanked with only 11 percent.
"(Gore) Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer deliver a mean-spirited, misguided, overlong time-waster whose description as 'popcorn' fare is fittingly appropriate," Todd Gilchrist wrote for Spinoff Online. He called it "an aggressively unhealthy substitute for more intellectually and emotionally nourishing entertainment," and most other critics didn't think much more of it.
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One of the main complaints about the film was Johnny Depp's performance. Viewers are so used to him as Captain Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise that it was easy to see filmmakers attempting to take advantage of the same formula.
"The real problem with the new 'Lone Ranger' is that, for those who are familiar with the multibillion-dollar 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise [likewise directed by Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp], there is little fresh or exciting about what we have here," said The LA Times' Kenneth Turan.
Arnie Hammer, who plays the Lone Ranger, didn't receive much better reviews.
"Hammer is charming but bland," wrote Moira McDonald for The Seattle Times. "[His and Depp's] interactions don't justify the film's two-and-a-half-hour running time."
Despite the onslaught of negative reviews by critics, some audiences seemed to enjoy the film, with it getting a 73 percent from them on RottenTomatoes.com. The film apparently "ends with a bang," critics said, which could have positively skewed audience perception of the entire movie.
The film was an adaption of the 1930s radio show and 1950s TV show starring Clayton Moore. The last attempt at a movie with the material bombed with 1981's "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" starring Klinton Spilsbury. The film was so bad Spilsbury never acted professionally again.
