The Lone Ranger was presumably an attempt on Disney's part to build another giant franchise with all the weight of Pirates of the Caribbean - and hiring Johnny Depp in the part of Tonto was their way of cementing that agenda in the eyes of the general public. Unfortunately the general public saw sense, and rejected The Lone Ranger as dead on arrival - a fate it absolutely deserved, on account of its awfulness. Aside from all those accusations of racism that Depp's casting provoked, most people seemed to ultimately agree that his performance as a Native American wasn't racist - just really annoying. And that just about sums it up. Depp's insistence on talking in what can only be described as a "sombre baritone" was just grating. There's the sense that he honestly took on the role because it gave him the chance to dress up in a crazy new costume; his schtick feels so "calculated," after all - quirky for the sake of quirky.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
