The Legend of Tarzan Movie Review

Released: July 1st 2016 (United States)

Length: 110 Minutes

Genre: Action and adventure

Certificate: 12A

Director: David Yates

Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou and Jim Broadbent

It’s been more than a decade since we last had a film adaptation of the vine swinging ape-man from the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Directed by David Yates of Harry Potter fame, The Legend of Tarzan attempts to be a grandiose adventure into parts unknown, but comes up somewhat short of its contemporaries.

TLOT is very much a what-if scenario and in this way it reminded me a lot of Stephen Spielberg’s 1991 film Hook. Tarzan (Or John Clayton III as he’s known played by Alexander Skarsgard) has left the jungle behind, living as a lord with his wife Jane (Margot Robbie) in London. In his absence, a number of rulers have laid claim to the continent for its rich deposits of diamonds and ivory, the biggest of which being the King of Belgium. He has sent a calculating captain named Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) to lay the groundwork for a takeover involving industrialization, armed intervention and slavery; it’s up to Tarzan to return to his wild ways, stop the plot and rescue his wife, with an American professor named George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) in tow. It’s extremely linear and gives you exactly what you’d expect. Tarzan must journey across the landscape, coming across all kinds of animals and African tribes along the way; he swings around the trees, gets into all kinds of scrappy fights and also jumps into flashback mode from time to time where we learn more about his past. In that sense it’s unremarkable, not really taking any risks with the story; there are no major twists or turns, making for a fairly safe film experience which plods on without many detours.

The characters of TLOT are relatively simplistic and some are performed better than others. The biggest problem with the film is Tarzan himself. When your main character is often overshadowed by those around him, that’s a pretty big problem and aside from cracking a few small smiles the title character doesn’t have much to show in terms of emotion. Skarsgard may have the physicality to embody the character but he never really owns the spotlight. He takes on the same blank expression, always having a serious look on his face. Margot Robbie fares better as Jane who is often daring in the ways she defies her captors whilst Christoph Waltz once again delivers a charismatic performance as the villain; definitely a step up from his basic appearance in Spectre last year. Of all the big name actors in The Legend of Tarzan, it’s Samuel L. Jackson that ends up stealing the thunder; he’s genuinely having a good time with the whole thing and his comic relief, despite teetering into modern day lingo at times, is still very enjoyable. The extras playing in the tribes are fairly typical and while they do draw the viewer into the African setting a bit, they aren’t all that developed, making their predicaments harder to sympathise with.

TLOT is a technically sound production; the African Congo portrayed looks superb with a range of mountains, gorgeous savannahs, dense jungles and watery passages; combine this with the changing weather and you have another visually stunning location that manages to be both inviting and dangerous throughout the film. The costume designs and steam powered hardware are also quite authentic, working to produce the feel of the 1800s. The same can’t be said for the animals though; The Jungle Book spoiled us rotten with its breath-taking creatures a few months ago and the effects here pale in comparison; the Ostrich pack and Wildebeest stampede are especially lacklustre, failing to convey the believability to the same level as the environments. At least the music from Rupert Gregson-Williams makes up for it; booming drums brand the action with a thunderous impact while the flashback scenes feature a surprising amount of poignancy in their arrangements.

The newest film incarnation of Tarzan is serviceable at best; it gives you some good action scenes, a few token performances and a dazzling world to contain it all. Unfortunately a bland lead performance and some weak computer effects bring it down from the sweeping epic it could have been; a shame considering the director’s past flair for adapting literary works to the screen.

Rating: 3/5 Stars