*SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE AHEAD BUT SINCE BOB"S REVIEW HAD TONS I WONT WORRY ABOUT IT.***
I'd firstly say this to anyone going to see the movie...basically expect Pirates of the old west. That's what I went in thinking, and I enjoyed it just fine.(The supernatural background is very similar.) Depp more or less is being Jack Sparrow in this film, and the character he isn't entirely noble by any stretch. I think it's less offensive to have him be an outcast being played by someone who wasn't Native American than the reverse. Especially since the movie hired a ton of legit Native Americans to stand along side him as the true noble savages the white man exploited.
As someone of Cherokee descent, I wasn't bothered in the slightest.(entertainment has no affirmative action, and it shouldn't. People have the right to tell whatever story they wish and have no responsibility to waiver for sake of PC.) I was glad they played it straight on the whole situation because that sort of thing really happened. The Comanche and other groups really did get horribly slaughtered, betrayed, and kicked off their land. (Which I didn't think the plot was that complicated, dude sells out and gets everyone to play along or he kills them. That was consistently the story and was hardly complicated or hard to follow.) The movie didn't have the Lone Ranger magically keep that from happening. While he stopped the main villains over all plot, progress still trampled the natives. Even the Lone Ranger can't stop the manifest destiny. In some campier story they'd probably had go down that way. I'm glad they stuck their guns, and showed both sides of America's history. Progress indeed came, by at a terrible price all around. I think showing that uncomfortable aspect more than offsets a single character being cast as another race.
As for Supernatural stuff, just because Tonto is believed to be nuts, doesn't mean everything he said was wrong. Like Jack Sparrow people don't believe him even when he is telling the truth. John Reid really is the spirit walker and Silver is the spirit horse. John actually starts believing in it and himself at the end why he actually saves the day. We don't see him be the True Lone Ranger till end of the film, but he definitely gets there. The movie just tries have fun getting there. I guess I enjoy people having to take a journey of faith to it's end. Feeling like a farce, but still staying true to their convictions and following them to it's end no matter how over their head they get. No matter how scared they might feel in the moment. John Reid follows his convictions and doesn't believe in taking lives pointlessly. He disarms and captures enemies first and foremost. That aspect of his character hasn't changed.
Tonto still does exactly what he said he would to the villains. He takes the silver and return them to the Earth. He obviously ends up doing it in a bit differently still fulfills his destiny. Butch Cavendish is still a monster, but he's the different kind...the real variety. While the openly show that he is a flesh eater, he is however never shown on screen actually eating or cutting out the people's body parts. It's just strongly implied by what people watching him doing that it's disturbing, but it's a PG-13 movie. I think it's still ok for kids above the age of 8 to see.
Overall I took my mom to see it since I knew she wanted to go, and we both liked it. As someone who's always had nostalgia for Cowboys(I loved Clint Eastwood and Galaxy Rangers...space cowboys...even cooler hehe.) , and the Lone Ranger I was happy to watch.(I'd watch the Legend of the Lone Ranger every time it was on TV since it aired a lot during the 80s on movie cable channels.) If a movie hits all buttons that makes my inner 6 year old want to see it, then I do. I'm usually happy when they do heh. Bob is allowed to have his opinion and I have mine. I liked it and that's my story.
