The film is based loosely on the television series of the same name, and this take on the story casts Armie Hammer as the title character, with Johnny Depp taking on the role of Tonto. It’s surprise casting perhaps, with Depp to a degree the more obvious leading man. Yet his turn as Tonto is a strong one,  frequently funny, and drawing on silent comedy stars for some good, solid laughs. That said, there are lots of moments here where director Gore Verbinski has clearly immaculately planned some excellent work. You’ll be hard pushed to see too many action moments this year to better the rousing excitement of the big chase at the end, and thanks in part to a Hans Zimmer-reworking of The William Tell Overture, it’s a sequence that stands out. Inevitably though, you’ll end up wishing the film has focused more on moments like that, and cutting out some of the padding which really drags The Lone Ranger down. Because there’s no way around it: this is a long film, that uncomfortably outstays its welcome by a good 20 minutes at least, probably more. To the layman’s eyes, the key contributor is a wraparound story involving Tonto, that we can’t imagine someone didn’t suggest cutting at some point. It’s not that it’s bad, it just feels like a narrative luxury the film just can’t afford. And whilst The Lone Ranger finds welcome time for silences and stillness, and commendably so, there are still moments throughout that feel like they could and should have been trimmed. Beautiful to look at, occasionally thrilling to watch, and with a sense that you neither know what’s necessarily around the next corner, nor how long it’ll take to get there, The Lone Ranger is, by turns, a brilliant, bewildering, blockbuster mess. But heck: you get your money’s worth. And a bit of change. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.