The Ranger Review

The Ranger is a punk filled film that follows a hardcore group as they head towards this cabin. It was owned by Chelsea (Chloe Levine), the core protagonist and the group against her direct wishes heads there. It's a place of sorrow for the character as she lost her uncle at the spot when she was young. Things start out fine after a small run in with the cops, but then take an interesting twist as a ranger from Chelsea's path comes into the fold. From there it's one hardcore ride of basically horror mixed with some comedic aspects.

It's not quite spooky, but lands on the gore side of it. The theater got a good laugh out of it, as did I. It was a rather enjoyable experience being creative in the ways it dealt with the folks. The tone was well set and mostly I would have just wanted the music to be more present. It matches the group well, but wasn't loud enough when viewing to create the impact I had desired. Still, it worked out well and carried enough of a beat throughout the film.

The Ranger had an alright cast, some of the acting was hit or miss with the leads doing a great job. The Ranger was just hilarious while also carrying a menacing style. I liked the balance Levine had between trying to get into the whole punk life, yet still having a lighter heart at the same time. She was particularly good when the more intense moments arrived.

Things did get gory and rather intense, it's very slow to start to then just dive right into it all. It's actually shocking at times how intense the film could get with zero chill to it. If there was a moment to go wild, it certainly would. There was a good amount of gore and some insane moments in the latter part of it. The pacing could have been better as it seemed slow to get going and there weren't enough people to keep it going for long.

The Conclusion

The Ranger was a really enjoyable film providing intense moments and a good amount of comedy. The music could have been louder in terms of balance as this should have been extremely loud. That's just the whole punk style, it needed to be integrated better for the various themes. I liked the odd relationship between the two leads and it was built well throughout. The acting was hit or miss at times though it worked out fine. There should definitely be some surprising moments, as it doesn't hold back which was great. It's a fresh type of ride and one that was enjoyable to take in.

The Ranger Review at Theater with Standard Viewing during Calgary Film Festival
Screening Provided by Calgary Film

Rating Overall: 7.5