It's Seitz. But what in the world do you have against him? I'm really interested. IMO he's one of the only really intelligent critics alive and probably the only one I usually agree with.

I prefer the Branagh/Thompson version, but this Joss Whedon b&w movie is offhand and charming although a little slapdash for my taste. I liked most of the performances, but Alexis Denisof as Benedick did next to nothing for me, which severely damaged my liking for the film since so much depends on this character. Denisof's readings often missed the mark IMO, but Amy Acker was fine as Beatrice, and I really liked Nathan Fillion's Dogberry (though not as much as Michael Keaton's in the Branagh version) and Reed Diamond's Don Pedro (more than Denzel Washington's in the you know what). Movie was more than okay but not all that.

Six-foot-five Armie Hammer certainly looks heroic, but to make room for Tonto's exploits, his Lone Ranger character (civilian name John Reid) has been made into an incompetent tenderfoot. He's a handsome fool who returns to his home in Colby, Texas, much like Jimmy Stewart's character in John Ford's classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," with a belief in the power of the law over violence that is dangerously naive.

This might be fine if Johnny Depp's Tonto were interested in being anything close to conventionally valiant, but anyone who's followed this one-of-a-kind actor's career knows this is invariably the furthest thing from his mind. And unlike his wonderfully insouciant Capt. Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates" franchise, Depp plays Tonto in a deadpan Buster Keaton style that is not well-suited to the demands of action and adventure.

Billy

Matthew Zoller Seitz is an avid reader of Dangerous Minds and has come to my rescue on several occasions when my ideas and opinions have been attacked in the comment section of the site.