Skip to content

Lone Ranger reboot mixes camp, action

The Lone Ranger co-star James Badge Dale says he’s eager for moviegoers to finally get a look at the long-awaited big-screen reboot, insisting the new take on Tonto “i
Johnny Depp Armie Hammer
This undated publicity photo from Disney/Bruckheimer Films

TORONTO — The Lone Ranger co-star James Badge Dale says he’s eager for moviegoers to finally get a look at the long-awaited big-screen reboot, insisting the new take on Tonto “is not what people think.”

The square-jawed actor was in Toronto recently to champion star Johnny Depp’s revamped portrayal of the controversial aboriginal sidekick, whose pidgin English and submissive image from decades past is now widely derided.

“When they see the film they’ll get it and they’ll understand and all those questions and all those concerns will be answered,” Dale says during a round of interviews at a downtown hotel.

“Johnny went to work with a lot of respect and a lot of humility towards the Native American community to get this story right. And the story is told through (Tonto’s) point of view, really.”

Skepticism has surrounded the film ever since Depp was cast as Tonto, with some questioning the actor’s claim to Cherokee/Creek heritage.

Depp was inducted into the Comanche Nation last year as an official member of the Native American tribe and has said he took pains to make sure his Tonto is a leader, not a follower.

But the fuss continued as images of his character made the rounds online, with commenters arguing over whether or not his elaborate get-up was offensive: Depp with long black hair covering his torso, white-and-black striped facepaint and a crow on his head.

There’s clearly a strong sense of humour in the film, says Dale, who suggests that comic relief goes a long way towards keeping the action-packed adventure tale moving.

He adds that the film’s kooky and supernatural touches offer a welcome counterpoint to more sobering big ideas in the film, which stars Armie Hammer as the titular hero.

“The campy approach works to bring out these other elements of the story, which are a little more dramatic and a little more poignant . . . . These themes of progress, capitalism, good, bad, who’s really a good guy, who’s really a bad guy, the outlaw versus the hero,” says Dale, known for co-starring in HBO’s The Pacific and starring in AMC’s short-lived series Rubicon.

“Sometimes things can be too dark and I’m a fan of bringing them up because if you can laugh a little bit then you can take a moment to sit back and go, ’Wait a minute, I’m going to think about this for a second.’ I think it’s an effective vehicle for telling a story.”

Dale plays the Lone Ranger’s older brother Dan Reid, a grizzled Texas ranger who deputizes his gun-averse, straight-laced lawyer brother John in order to hunt down the ruthless outlaw Butch Cavendish and his gang.

The brutal chase offers a rude awakening to the naive John, whose faith in traditional law-and-order is shaken by the savage code of the Wild West.

Dale says he and his co-stars did much of their own riding for the action scenes, which were shot amid the striking red mesas and buttes of Monument Valley.

The region — located along the Utah-Arizona border — was made famous by many of John Ford’s iconic Western films including Stagecoach, Fort Apache and The Searchers.

Dale, whose other summer blockbusters this year include Iron Man 3 and World War Z, gushes over getting “a once-in-a-lifetime experience” to play cowboy but also says “it was all real.”

“We all kind of had near-disasters,” he reveals. “We wanted to do this for real. The idea was to do it for real right up to the point where if it was too dangerous then we don’t do it.”

Depp had a frightening fall from a horse in which he was almost trampled, while Dale found himself desperately holding on to a runaway horse.

“I had a horse named Duke and I loved Duke. Me and Duke actually got along, sort of. Sometimes. But Duke was scared of gunfire and when you’re doing a Western that can get a little hectic,” he notes.

“This horse just kept going and going and going. And I’m just thinking, ‘I’m holding on, I’m not going to fall off, I’m going to hold on, I’m holding on for dear life.’ And I’m like, ‘Duke, just please stop. Stop, man.’ And he runs up a hill and he stopped.... (Duke’s owner) rides up laughing and slapped me on the back and says ‘Congratulations, Badge. Duke hasn’t run that fast in 10 years.”’

The Lone Ranger opens Wednesday.