Rango – review

Kids and their parents will get more than a few laughs out of "Rango," a enormously bright animated western that looks like it's in 3-D, even though it isn't. A pet chameleon gets estranged from his owners in a desert highway accident. He meanders to a town called Dirt, populated by a amazement of desert beings. Rango becomes the dried hamlet's new sheriff. He has fun live the role until he discovers that the mayor, a wily turtle, may be part of a wicked water-stealing plot that is killing the town.

Then Rango must find the real bravery to save Dirt and win over a girl lizard named Beans. "Rango" comes close to being incessantly pleasant - full of visual humor to amuse kids and references to classic westerns to tickle adults. But near the end there is a big battle that goes on too long and becomes a little too aggressive for under-8s and perhaps for 8-to-10-year-olds.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The PG score is tested a bit in the battle, when bad guys of an undefined species fly into the fray on huge bats. Creepy. The dialogue creates repeated use of the word "hell," along with at least one "damn."