The Lone Ranger

One would think that as a lawman (not to mention one from Texas) a person would be ok with the thought of handling guns and capturing criminals out in the Wild West. Then again, John Reid is not an ordinary lawman. He battles criminals and brings justice with words in a courthouse instead of bullets. He would rather be in the courtroom serving justice to criminals to the full extent of the law than out in the dangers of the Wild West. John's brother Dan, on the other hand, is the one who is a gun-toting, rough and tumble bounty hunter of sorts. Dan and his posse of Texas Rangers are bringing in a notorious cannibalistic evildoer named Butch Cavendish to be hanged in another town, but Cavendish escapes from the train transporting him to his execution. As a result Dan deputizes John and brings him along to recapture Cavendish and bring him to justice once and for all. Before their posse can accomplish this task they are ambushed by Cavendish's gang and left for dead. A lone Indian named Tonto stumbles upon the dead bodies and loots then buries them. While doing so, Tonto notices that a white stallion keeps going over to John Reid's grave and realizes that it is a spirit horse and it wants to bring John back from the grave. When John comes back to life and realizes what happens, he teams up with Tonto to go after Butch Cavendish and make him pay for his crimes once and for all.

If you're wondering if this film adaptation stays true to the spirit of the old TV series, it does...for the last 10-15 minutes of the film. Otherwise instead of giving tribute to The Lone Ranger it completely undermines the canon of the legend of The Lone Ranger and turns him into a vigilante initially going for vengeance instead of strictly being an instrument of justice. The trailers make it seem like a fun movie that parents and older kids would love, but this is not the case. The Lone Ranger is a very dark, violent film that is not suitable for kids. It has it's issues such as the vigilante angle as previously mentioned, and the bad guy is not just a man with an evil scheme, but he's also a cannibal. The camera (through a reflection) catches him stabbing, cutting open and eating the heart out of a dead man. On top of the dark content the movie itself doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be a lighthearted action comedy, or a dark and gritty western; and the story is confusing with a few plot holes. It's received some high praise from several people, but to be honest I cannot see why this is the case. I cannot recommend anyone go see The Lone Ranger, especially if you're looking to remember the show.