The Lone Ranger

[poliphilo]

If you're my age you'll remember watching the Lone Ranger on TV on Saturday afternoons. If you're any younger you won't. He was a cross between Roy Rogers and Superman - and one of a bunch of silly, campy, sexless, older-brotherly, cowboy heroes designed to appeal to prepubescent boys. He came, he went, he wasn't greatly missed.

Some  silly, campy, kids entertainment franchises have never gone out of the public eye. Batman has always been around in print and has kept showing up on TV and in the movies. He doesn't have to be revived, just restyled, because he has never been away.  But the Lone Ranger just stopped dead circa 1960.  You want to relaunch him now, you have to use jump leads. Only us whiskery old grand-dads remember him as a living force and not necessarily with any great fondness. If you're putting a lot of money into him now, be warned; you're effectively starting from scratch.

And that's why the movie slumped. It's got nothing to do with the critics.

PS. I quite like Johnny Depp, but he can't ensure profits just by turning up. I don't believe any movie star can these days.

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I am SO angry about this that I could spit. I LOVE the L.R. and all he supposedly stood for. This movie screwed it all up. All of it. For that I could learn to dislike Johnny Depp a lot.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

If you're going to revive one of these iconic old characters you've got to do it with love- and I don't suppose any of the people involved in The Lone Ranger did it because they care about the characters.

[michael john grist (from livejournal.com)]

Apparently Johnny Depp loved the Lone Ranger, grew up watching it, and always harbored a dream to play Tonto. In much the same way he always loved Dark Shadows, and always wanted to be the vampire.

Seems like a game of make-believe to me, where only Johnny gets served. Dark Shadows was utter crap. I have no doubt Lone Ranger is too.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's not good for any artist to get as rich and powerful as Johnny now is. Anything he wants he gets. There's nothing to kick against, no-one to tell him to get real.

And the art suffers.