The Lone Ranger - not a review

Today, The Lone Ranger opens. Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer star in Disney's new film and attempt at a 3rd Johnny Depp franchise for the studio, right behind Pirates of the Carribean and Alice in Wonderland, which has a sequel in the works. I have not seen the movie yet, although I think I want to. My kids, ages 6 and 8 want to see it. This could partially be due the fact that they have been inundated with ads on Disney XD about the movie.

It's no secret, the film is getting really bad reviews. This is not a complete surprise, merely due to the fact that there were production problems. Production on the film was shut down for several months after it had began in order for the studio to rework the budget. It also has had it's opening date moved three times, which sometimes is another red flag. Although, to be honest, it got moved to 4th of July weekend due to another studio pushing their big film release back, thus freeing up this big holiday weekend.

Reviews of the film seem to be universal in their critique at the films length and plot. Again, I haven't seen the movie yet, so I cannot comment on the plot. It does seem that perhaps they tried to hard to force a franchise and by using the Pirates template should have made it a slam dunk.  I am dreading seeing the comparisons that will be made this weekend to the release of John Carter last year and it's devastating box office numbers.  Sadder yet, the box office will be dominated by Universal's Despicable Me 2, an animated film from a rival studio.

I will get around to seeing the movie soon and I will give my own thoughts shortly. Meanwhile, I am still trying to find time for that other box office failure, The Hangover 3, which I am still looking forward to see, for real. I love those characters.