The Lone Ranger

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “For all its miscalculations, this is a personal picture, violent and sweet, clever and goofy. It's as obsessive and overbearing as Steven Spielberg's "1941" — and, I'll bet, as likely to be re-evaluated twenty years from now, and described as "misunderstood."”

  Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com · 88

• “Talk about a pleasant surprise! Real storytelling, well thought-out and beautifully, at times insanely, executed, with excitement, laughs and fun to make you feel seven years old again.”

  Angie Errigo, Empire · 80

• “A wild, wacky, wide-screen reimagining of the vintage radio serial and TV series, the film - with Armie Hammer in the hat and mask, galloping across Texas righting wrongs, and Depp as his trusty Indian sidekick, Tonto - is an epic good time.”

  Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer · 75

• “If anything, it’s overstuffed with imagination and ideas, and when it comes to Hollywood movies I very much prefer that to the default setting. See it with an open mind, and you may well be surprised.”

  Andrew O'Hehir, Salon · 70

• “Hammer’s performance — always game, never mugging — certainly helps; his likable but buffoonish Lone Ranger is an essential part of the movie’s irreverent tone.”

  Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The A.V. Club · 67