The landscape of cinema has changed so much over the years. There was a time in its history when certain directors were keen to explore certain themes in their films; when getting to the heart of a character was key. One such director was Ingmar Bergman; he was determined to pull his protagonists emotionally apart in an attempt to discover what made them tick.

These days however, it’s not exactly a prerequisite for the modern Hollywood film to get inside the head of the average leading man’s character; and considering most of them, it’s probably for the best.

In recent years there have been less and less existential protagonists pondering the meaning of life on film; it’s odd, and pleasantly refreshing, to see the lead in this latest animated film tackle such big issues. Who would have thought that chameleons were such deep thinkers?

Hanging out in his terrarium in the back of a moving car, Rango (Johnny Depp) is putting on quite a show; there’s definitely more than a touch of the thespian about this chameleon. Due to an unforeseen incident on the highway, Rango is catapulted into the middle of the Mojave Desert.

With the harsh heat of the sun bearing down on him, Rango gets a break when he stumbles upon a small town known as Dirt. He’s not exactly greeted with open arms though. He does what any like-minded chameleon would do in this situation: he attempts to blend in. Unfortunately for Rango, he gets a little carried away in his efforts to reinvent himself, and ends up spinning quite a yarn.

His tales of bravery propel him to the lofty position of Sheriff, where he finds himself confronted by some mighty mean foes. On top of that, he also decides to get to the bottom of the town’s biggest problem, its lack of water. But can his colourful bravado protect him from the very wild West?

You see I'm a calmer chameleon; I come and go, I come and go.

As well as being the first existentialist chameleon on screen, Rango also marks the first CGI film to be made by the omnipresent Industrial Light & Magic team. Considering their fairly late arrival to the CGI party, they do an extremely elegant, swelegant job. Rango is a perky little critter and without going the whole hog and Disneyfying him, they still manage to keep this particular reptile the right side of cute. And considering the arid location of the film, they also maintain a cool vibrancy with the limited colour swatch at their disposal.

Nothing should be taken away from Depp however, as he imbues a real quizzical charm into his animated character. There’s almost a sense of improve taking place at times, which is nice trick if you can pull it off for an animated film.

Another right note it strikes is in the soundtrack department; Hans Zimmer really embraces the Western theme, cracking the whip and going for broke. In doing so, he not only pays tribute to the genre in fine style, but he also puts to shame the piddly poor job that was done on the recent True Grit.

Where it stumbles a tad is in its story. It gets way too convoluted for a PG; it’s not clear if its homage to 1974’s Chinatown is intentional or not, but the conspiracy theories regarding the water shortage may well have a fair few of adults scratching their heads, never mind their youngsters. Still, we should be grateful they left the incest plot out.

Also, there’s just a bit too much of it; the extra 17 minutes over the child-friendly norm of 90 really start to take their toll, so if you have a particularly restless child/other half, it might be best to wait until its DVD release.

It just goes to prove though that, surprise surprise, a smart and funny animated film doesn’t have to rely on an extra dimension to make it any more entertaining.

Rango isn’t your average animated hero and he’s better off because of it. Would Bergman approve? Undoubtedly. Well, we think he would, wouldn’t he? Whatever the case, there’s no arguing that he’s definitely destined to become the thinking chameleon’s chameleon.