Unmasking The Lone Ranger

By: Corinne Bright

     “The Lone Ranger”, Disney’s latest action movie following a Native American spirit warrior and a former Texas Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, rides into theaters on July 3. This action-packed adventure follows two unlikely heroes placed together by fate to define justice and fight crime.

     “I expect [the movie] to be an exciting remake of the old shows,” said junior Janae Lawrence. “It will remind people that The Lone Ranger is an important icon from American culture.”

     Originating as a television series, The Lone Ranger has been around since the early 1950s. Walt Disney Pictures and Academy and Grammy Award winning producer Jerry Bruckheimer made it their priority to tell the same story of how The Lone Ranger became The Lone Ranger in their remake but modernized with several special effects.

     “We always take a different approach to things,” said Bruckheimer in an interview with CinemaCon. “Instead of having a contemporary western we have Jack White doing the music, which will be rock and roll. We are looking at it from a whole different perspective, but it’s still the original stories.”

     To conceal his true identity, the ranger, played by actor Armie Hammer, anonymously fights for justice underneath his black mask. For the die-hard fans of The Lone Ranger, the mask is what brings their hero to life. 

     “We were standing in a back room putting on all of these costumes and Penny Rose [costume designer] goes, ‘Here, darling, put this on,’” said Hammer. “I put it on, looked in the mirror and thought, ‘Holy [cow], this is the Lone Ranger mask.’”

     Critics are uncertain with the casting of Johnny Depp, a man of Caucasian decent, as a Native American named Tonto. Devoted fans of the original Tonto have expressed their concerns of a theatrical person such as Johnny Depp playing the role of their Native American hero.

     “Depp normally brings a freakish take to any character he plays,” said concerned fan Lon Allen in The Tribune. “[He] better not mess it all up with his usual mugging into the camera that says, ‘Look at me, aren’t I creative?’”

     Despite the critics’ harsh reviews, Depp dove into his character, attempting to study and adopt the qualities that make up Tonto’s deep and perplexing personality.

     “I had seen a painting by an artist named Kirby Sattler and looked at the face of this warrior and thought ‘That’s it,’” said Depp in an interview with screenrant.com. “The stripes down the face and across the eyes…it seemed to me like you could almost see the separate sections of the individual. There’s this very wise quarter, a very tortured and hurt section, an angry and rageful section and a very understanding and unique side. I saw these parts, almost like dissecting a brain, these slivers of the individual. That makeup inspired me.”

     Though many doubt the casting, Bruckheimer has worked with cast members like Johnny Depp in previous movies and is confident in the success of the movie.

     “[Depp] always takes a unique spin to his characters and creates something fresh and different, and he’s doing it all over again,” said Bruckheimer. “Armie’s handsome, iconic and there’s a lot of humor in the film too.”

     Get ready to witness action, adventure and comedy in this upcoming western escapade. Saddle up for “The Lone Ranger” premiering July 3.