It's been almost exactly ten years since the first Pirates of the Caribbean surprised the hell out of everyone by being pretty great, and it's easy to forget how genuinely wonderful that was. Johnny Depp was suddenly a mega-star, pirates were suddenly cool again, and Gore Verbinski proved that the right combination of action and humor could make even a theme park ride turn into a pretty great movie.
It's especially worth remembering that as we prepare for The Lone Ranger, which continues releasing new trailers like this one (via Apple)that feel much more in the spirit of the original Pirates, and come close to allowing us to forgive Verbinski for the mess of the second two. His and Depp's last collaboration, Rango, was also a Western of sorts, and the two seem to be bringing a similar jaunty energy to The Lone Ranger, though with the added benefit of an enormous budget and a ton of explosions. We're still not getting much of a sense of Armie Hammer's character here, but he's very clearly set up as the square-jawed straight man to Johnny Depp's wilder Tonto. Hopefully they're selling the movie on another outlandish Johnny Depp performance, but Hammer will do a better job anchoring the drama than, say, Orlando Bloom in the first Pirates.
The Lone Ranger arrives just in time for the July 4 holiday weekend, and after dropping a ton of money on the project, Disney will be working hard to guarantee it's a hit. Honestly, after being skeptical for a long time, I'm starting to think this could be a lot of fun. Anybody else willing to join me?
