The Warner Brothers Network struggled to reboot "The Lone Ranger" without success as a weekly series in this cable TV adaptation. "Child's Play 3"director Jack Bender and "Let The Devil Wear Black" scenarists Stacy Title and Jonathan Penner have taken lots of liberties with the original material. Not only have they changed the names of various protagonists and the antagonists, but also they have altered major plot incidents. The Texas setting remains intact, and Boston bred Luke Hartman (Chad Michael Murray of "House of Wax") arrives from the East to visit his brother, Harmon Hartman (Sebastian Spence of "Little Boy Blues"), who moonlights as a Texas Ranger. Notice that the hero's name has been changed from John Reid to Luke Hartman. When the regulators start raising hell with homeowners in the route of the railway, Harmon and his fellow Rangers saddle up for action. Naturally, Luke wants to accompany his big brother, but Harmon refuses to let him join them. Nevertheless, Luke rides after them despite his older brother's warnings. Harmon allows him to spend the night with them. The chief villain in The Lone Ranger origin story was Butch Cavendish, but here he is known as Kansas City Haas (Dylan Walsh of "Congo"), who seems friendly enough in the beginning. Instead of leading the Rangers into a cross-fire in a valley, double-crossing Kansas and his armed regulators massacre the Texas Rangers while they are encamped for the evening. Kansas and his gunmen are trying to run settlers off their property so they can sell it to the railroad. Kansas plugs both Hartmans, but Luke manages to survive the ordeal. After being tutored by Tonto (Nathaniel Arcand) and given a mask by Native American witch doctor Kulakinah ( Wesi Studi of "Heat"), Hartman makes his first appearance at night as the Masked Man and thwarts Kansas and his gunmen from running a black family off their property. Murray dons a black mask and straddles a white horse, but his outfit looks nothing like Clayton Moore. For the record, Hartman meets Tonto when he tries to defend Tonto' sister in town from a gang of horny gunslingers on his first day out west. Of course, this cannot compare with Clayton Moore's "Lone Ranger" movies and TV episodes, but it is a serious, straightforward narrative that occasionally incorporates some humor and sexuality. Meantime, the Indians don't want to help. The most interesting character again is a villain, and Dylan Walsh savors the role with enthusiasm. At one point, Tonto's sister Alope (Anita Brown of "A Guy Thing") sinks into a hot tub with him. The dialogue is sometimes profane but always memorable. The WB didn't slight this oater. The rough-hewn sets look sumptuous, and the production values are strong. The use of songs behind the violence isn't as effective. In this version, Luke is a natural born crack shot with a handgun. Keep in mind that the Lone Ranger is more of a teenager. He saves Tonto's life at one point. Not bad.
Review of The Lone Ranger
