Tonto and 'Lone Ranger' Revealed

Disney has been toying with a "The Lone Ranger" movie for a while now, but the reality is it is currently in full-blown production. To prove it, Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted the first image of Tonto and the Lone Ranger. Check it out for yourself below.

Before seeing this image, if you asked me about Disney's "The Lone Ranger" I would have chuckled. Despite having Gore Verbinski hired to direct, everything I'd heard or read did nothing for me. Lone Ranger has always been a corny old fashioned western that I never really enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge western fan, but what I know/seen from the character growing up was never anything that excited me.

As for this new image, it is intriguing. I'm a pretty unforgiving fan of Johnny Depp's, the guy hasn't impressed me in years and I tend to roll my eyes at each of his new roles but something about this image grabs my attention. And yes, it is partly the shock that Depp has a crow on his head. You could go either way this but I really think the crow is a clever detail. Depp has always been one to enjoy crazy costuming and I would bet that he had some influence in what he is wearing. More importantly looking at this image, you can sense how crucial Tonto will be. He may be in the background of the picture, but he is the weight of the image (and not because its Johnny Depp). This images sells the fact that Tonto is like an overseer. That he will be the narrator, retelling the story of the Lone Ranger. It helps that the official synopsis also says something to that effect:

The Lone Ranger is a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

My real worry is this flick will end up being another almost-there project from Disney. All of their recent live-action adventures have had dents in the armor including the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise, 'Chronicles of Narnia' franchise, 'National Treasure' films, the 'Tron' sequel, Tim Burton's attempt at 'Wonderland,' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and the lackluster video game adaptation "Prince of Persia." Even their latest film "John Carter" isn't a home run. Disney's live-action adventures leave something to be desired for me. Maybe they have too much of a family tilt to them? That shouldn't be an issue because their whole catalog drenched in family fare. The difference is I think there's been a lack of quality storytelling coming from the house of mouse for the last decade or so. The fact that Terry Rossio, who has played a big part in each of the 'Pirates' scripts wrote this script with the same group doesn't bode well for me either.

Like I said, before today I wasn't paying attention to Disney's next live-action adventure but this new image has grabbed my attention. Let's see if it can hold on it. "The Lone Ranger" releases May 31st, 2013

Source | Twitter