Well, I am a big fan of Johnny Depp and think he is a great actor. I saw this movie via PPV yesterday and have watched it several times since and will do it again once or twice.
This movie is power-packed and humorous. I loved it. 4 out of 5 stars. Johnny Depp hit it again. My favorite character was him. Armie Hammer was okay.
ATTENTION!!! I recommend not taking any children under 10 to see it. It may be Disney, but it is violent (YES!). The sex content is very mild.
As someone who grew up watching "The Lone Ranger," much as I like Depp playing pirate and other roles, seeing him and his pronounced comedic take on roles playing Tonto is just wrong. Plus non-natives playing natives is to me like non-blacks wearing blackface and quite offensive.
Googling around, though Depp claims a native grandmother, ancestry.com can't confirm it, though they can confirm the other guy playing the Ranger does.
"According to a press release issued today by genealogy website Ancestry.com, Armie Hammer, the actor who plays the title role in Disney's upcoming western film The Lone Ranger, has Native American heritage.
The thrust of the release is that both Hammer and Johnny Depp, who plays Tonto, are descendants of "real American freedom fighters."
For Hammer, that means Cherokee, with "one of the earliest documented Cherokee leaders and known peace advocate, Chief Kanagatucko" way back in his family tree, according to Ancestry.com's researchers. Depp's justice-seeking relative was Elizabeth Key, the first woman in the North American colonies of African descent to sue for her slavery and win, in 1656.
Depp, who has faced criticism as a non-Native playing a Native character, has claimed American Indian blood -- specifically a grandmother who was Cherokee or Creek. The Ancestry.com release does not address the issue of Depp's purported Native blood.
Visit Marketwire.com to read the full release."
It's Hammer, Not Depp, With Indian Blood, Says Ancestry.com - ICTMN.com
Even if Depp had some distant relative and thus qualified, his regular roles don't make mention of it, so for all intents and purposes he's white. If most of his roles were him playing native nations characters it'd be another thing. But is Hollywood expecting us to believe there wasn't a qualified native nations actor anywhere who could do the role? What about that guy from "Maverick" and "Dances With Wolves?" he coulda done it.
When you start using white mainstream actors to play ethnic characters it's offensive. It doesn't matter how well-intentioned it is. Imagine if it were reversed and historically white characters like oh I dunno, Jesus was played by a black, or a woman, or depicted as gay. Doesn't matter how innocent or well-played it is, it isn't accurate and is offensive twisting history that way (and yes I know Jesus wasn't white, but he exists in the zeitgeist that way.) Even if "The Lone Ranger" and Tonto are fictional, changing things up later is changing the original story. And if people looking at the new Tonto are seeing Johnny Depp and not a good native actor you're insulting and hurting native nations people.
Oh that's unique.
