The good, the bad and the lizard

With a collection of fun performances and classic references that will keep audiences of all ages entertained, “Rango” delivers a unique blend of style, humor and excitement.

A flamboyant, lonely lizard thespian voiced by Johnny Depp smashes out of his tank on the freeway and concocts the pseudonym Rango in a moment of panic while trying to impress a crowd.

This serves as his main impetus throughout most of the film, which leads us through high-energy chase scenes, double-crossings and a good old-fashioned showdown at high noon.

Gore Verbinski, director of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, packs the action sequences with frantic movement interspersed with tense silences and the stillness of the Westerns the film draws from. The characters and settings are well-styled and lend the film its own brand of fun.

Sprinkled around the edges of the film are fun allusions for anyone paying attention, from Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name to Depp’s Hunter S. Thompson and even Wagner’s “Flight of the Valkyries” played on a banjo. Even when the film slows down at the beginning of the second scene, it’s hard not to watch the kooky cast follow leads to solve the mystery of the missing water in their town.

Some of the magical realism does stretch the limits of believability. Without revealing too much about the climax, entities that were thought to be part of a mirage play a key role in defeating the villain. I felt just the tiniest bit cheated by this twist in an otherwise gritty, real-world action Western — albeit one with animals.

But the lizard’s antics entertain, and the story can’t help but involve you in all the paths it takes to return water to this one-horse town populated by an eclectic assortment of creatures.

There’s a certain poetry, a wistful veneer to the film, that more animators should take note of. It creates an experience that sticks with you long after you leave the theater.