Hi No Silver Go Away

Only diehard Johnny Depp fans will enjoy The Lone Ranger

Capitalizing on nostalgia will probably always be a big thing in Hollywood, as every generation likes to look back on famous characters. But as the Lone Ranger had his heyday in the 1950s, it seems like a bit of stretch to bring him back now.

But that didn’t stop the makers of The Lone Ranger from trying, especially because they felt they had a unique take on the story. This version would be told from the perspective of Tonto (Johnny Depp), a character that has long been derided for being treated in a racist manner.

The action is framed by an elderly Tonto recounting how he came to meet John Reid (Armie Hammer), a.k.a. the man who would go on to become the Lone Ranger. The two reluctantly join forces after they develop a common enemy, Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner).

Many of the characters feel undercooked, starting with the Lone Ranger himself.

The simplicity of that set-up is quickly complicated, though, as director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean series) and the trio of writers pile on subplot after subplot, ultimately taking the film to an ungainly two-and-a-half-hours.

Even at that length, many of the characters feel undercooked, starting with the Lone Ranger himself. We learn that he’s a lawyer, that he has a Texas Ranger for a brother and that he and his brother’s wife probably had a thing at one time, but that’s about it. Rarely will you see a title character so underdeveloped.

The reason for that, of course, is because of the effort put toward fleshing out Tonto. While that works for the character, it hurts the movie as a whole. It’s great fun to see Depp hamming it up with hilarious one-liners, but the focus is so singular you realize you don’t really care about anything involving Reid or the other characters.

That’s a shame, because Hammer actually makes for a really good Lone Ranger. He has presence, charm and the ability to be really funny when called upon. But because he has to constantly compete with Depp’s bon mots, he rarely has the opportunity to shine.

Depp gives it his all, and he’s the biggest reason the film remains at least semi-watchable. He may or may not have Native American blood in him, but that quickly becomes a moot point given how entertaining he is. It’s yet another in a long line of quirky yet grandly appealing roles for the eccentric Depp.

Unfortunately, the non-Tonto elements can’t compete, making the rest of the film seem as if it’s just going through the motions instead of delivering a high-octane summer tentpole. The Lone Ranger could yet ride high again, but not this time.

Funny facial expressions are one tool in Johnny Depp's comedy arsenal in The Lone Ranger.

Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer in The Lone Ranger

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Funny facial expressions are one tool in Johnny Depp's comedy arsenal in The Lone Ranger.

Movie Review

Faces of Death returns with modern twist on cult horror film

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death

Photo courtesy of of IFC Films

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death.

True horror fans will likely be familiar with the 1978 cult film Faces of Death, which purported to be a documentary showing real-life killings in gory detail. It didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop rumors from continuing to spread for decades. Now, almost 50 years and multiple sequels later, comes a new version of Faces of Death, an actual movie that pays homage to the original in interesting ways.

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works at a YouTube-like company called Kino as a content moderator, flagging videos that violate the company’s policies. This means her job often involves seeing some truly despicable things from all manner of depraved people. One day, though, she comes across a video that seems a little too real, and after seeing more similar videos, she starts to believe they’re genuine murders.

Going against her company NDA, she starts to investigate the videos on her own, which puts her on the radar of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), who is actually kidnapping people and killing them on camera through methods seen in the original Faces of Death film. It’s not long before Arthur tracks her down, with a plan to make her one of his next victims.

Written and directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) and co-written by Isa Mazzei, the film is not so much scary as it is creepy, with the occasional gross-out sequence. The idea of having someone emulate the killings in the cult film is a good idea, and pairing it with the modern-day attention economy - in which content creators go to increasing lengths for clicks - is a clever twist on a concept that other films have done.

The film as a whole is a commentary on how social media and video sharing sites have often decided to prioritize profits over the well-being of their users. Margot is shown allowing videos involving violence and sexual assault to stay on the site while nixing ones depicting how to use Narcan or demonstrating putting on a condom on a banana. Josh (Jermaine Fowler), Margot’s boss, is even explicit in the company mandate that outrageous videos drive views.

While Arthur has the makings of a good villain, there are few attempts to make him seem truly diabolical. His kidnappings often seem more spur-of-the-moment than calculated, and even though he has a well thought-out dungeon at home, the house’s location in the suburbs seems to make him vulnerable to easy discovery. Goldhaber and Mazzei leave more than a few unanswered questions along the way that take away from the intensity of the story.

Ferreira is yet another actor from Euphoria who’s capitalizing on her exposure from that show. She plays Margot’s increasing anxiety well, and when the action ratchets up in the final act, she meets the moment in a satisfying way. Montgomery returns to the vibe he had while playing the evil Billy on Stranger Things, and even though his character doesn’t fully live up to his potential, Montgomery sells his evil for all it’s worth.

The new Faces of Death may not be what some are expecting given the reputation of the previous films, but it’s a solid horror/thriller that uses the brand as a launching pad into something different. It doesn’t make much of a dent in the scare department, but it does give its violence and gore a degree of relevance in today’s often desensitized world.

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Faces of Death is now playing in theaters.

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