This Western-inspired tale of a heroic lizard theoretically ticks all the boxes.

It is beautifully animated yet departs from the usual formula of aesthetically pleasing cute animals with amusing patter. In fact, the characters all look more roadkill than Rudolph or Bambi – in one case, literally.

Rango tells the tale of a pet chameleon who dreams of being a hero but discovers there’s some truth in the old adage: Beware your dreams, they may come true.

After winding up in an Old West town called Dirt, Rango is voted Sheriff after an accidental scuffle with an eagle. He then becomes oddly embroiled in a corrupt plot that threatens the town’s residents.

The story is unique - darkly comedic and seemingly aimed at a more adult audience.

For example, words like 'immutable', 'halcyon', and even 'mammogram' seem strange emanating from the muzzles of cartoon animals.

It has some pretty big names in it, too - director Gore Verbinski (of Pirates of the Caribbean franchise fame), Johnny Depp voicing the eponymous hero, and Aussie babe Isla Fisher and Little Miss Sunshine supergirl Abigail Breslin playing some damn-ugly critturs, as well as a wonderful score by music maestro Hans Zimmer.

It aims to be sophisticated and deals with timeless grown-up themes like ambition and corruption.

It references Ennio Morricone and Sam Peckinpah Westerns (though Rango is thankfully devoid of Peckinpah's overt sexism).

And scenes of hanged owls are certainly unlikely to ever pass muster with Disney.

Yet, considering the dark imagery and humour, as a horror fan, I'm amazed this didn't move me more.

I wasn't alone in this feeling as, in my screening, none of the children laughed, with a few of the adults emitting a few chuckles at jokes that would fly over the heads of the supposedly target audience.

I have read quite a few reviews by critics who have raved about Rango. They are all male. As were the people who laughed at my screening – all men.

And, despite always believing my sensibilities are more male-orientated when it comes to the type of movies I enjoy, I guess this time my tastes are decidedly feminine.

I discussed Rango with a male critic and asked for his viewpoint. He reckoned it would appeal to little boys who like creepy, eerie films. He agreed that maybe kids wouldn't understand all the language but they'd get the gist and it would play to little boys' (and big boys') cowboy fantasies.

So there you go. But I still think there is something else they must be seeing,something indefinable, that I'm missing. For despite my love of eerieness, and of revenge films like Westerns (hell, I even travelled to Tucson Studios in Arizona last summer and thrilled to the original movie sets), the truth is I felt bored silly throughout.

Yet unlike another Western, True Grit, which I thought was downright awful, Rango's heart is in the right place. I just wish mine wasn't in the wrong one.