Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
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Reviews
Surprisingly incoherent and boring
best movie i've ever seen.
Awesome Movie
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Not feel like old jungle man Tarzan . A London gentleman with wild past with Margot robbie seductive approach . Entertaining
Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård) is convinced to return to Africa so he might help the Congolese people facing enslavement and other atrocities at the hands of Belgian diamond miners. Tarzan is accompanied by George Washington Williams (Samuel L Jackson) and, against his wishes, his wife Jane (Margot Robbie). Soon after their arrival in Africa, Jane is kidnapped by a man named Rom (Christoph Waltz). Rom has a plan to turn Tarzan over to an African chief, Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou), who wants to see Tarzan punished for the death of his son. Rom intends to use Jane as bait to lure Tarzan into Mbonga's hands for a fortune in diamonds in return. As you'd expect, Tarzan sets out to rescue Jane.My little, poorly written plot summary for The Legend of Tarzan actually makes the film sound better than it is. The plot here is paper thin. A lot of what goes on makes no sense at all and characters generally behave in an irrational fashion with little motivation. All are 2D characters without much depth. The showdown between Tarzan and Mbonga should have been a highlight. Instead, it's one of weakest sequences in the film. It's over before it begins. It's frustrating to watch a film that could and should have been much better had anyone spent more time developing a solid and compelling story.Beyond my issues with the plot, I wasn't crazy about the film's structure. Parts of the story are told in a series of increasingly frustrating flashbacks. Most of the flashbacks relate to Tarzan's origin story - something that felt unnecessary to include in this movie. Not only are the flashbacks annoying but they do a pretty poor job of explaining a backstory we're all familiar with. They only serve to bloat the film and unnecessarily increase the runtime.The acting is all over the place. Skarsgård makes for a weak Tarzan. Oddly, he seems uninterested throughout most of the movie. Robbie really doesn't have much to do and is wasted. Jackson does what he usually does - he plays Williams just like every other character he plays. He seems horribly miscast to me. Hounsou and Waltz are the acting highlights for me. With more developed characters and better defined motivations, they're performances would have been even better.Even though I've already listed a number of negatives, the biggest weakness in The Legend of Tarzan is the overuse of some really bad looking CGI. Most of the animals look terrible. The gorillas, lions, wildebeests (especially the wildebeests) - none of them look convincing. There's not a "real" looking animal to be found in the entire movie. But the worst example of poor CGI can be seen in Tarzan's swing through the trees. A hand drawn cartoon would have looked more realistic. It's some of the worst CGI I've seen. And speaking of Tarzan swinging through the trees - the whole notion is ridiculous. Tarzan goes from one conveniently placed vine to the next at a speed that would have made a cheetah envious. It's insulting. Despite everything I've written, it's obvious from my rating that I didn't find the entire film a total flop. There are moments here and there that work - Rom's diner scene with Jane being one example. So even though I've spent several paragraphs discussing the issues I had with The Legend of Tarzan, I'm still rating the film a 4/10.
Disappointed. The story was random, scattered. I waited, glassy-eyed, for something to develop in the plot to catch my interest, but instead, it moves on to another scene that goes nowhere. It's a shame really. I can tell that Skarsgaard and Waltz are excellent actors who could have showcased their talents with better material. I tried not to be bored, but failed at every attempt. It wasn't for lack of trying. I tried to enjoy the film, but the totality of the story was flat - no peaks, no valleys - a flat-line, though Skarsgaard and Waltz were excellent cast- mates. I can't fault them; however, Margot Robbie did not fit. First of all, she needs elocution lessons. I couldn't understand a word she said, though I could understand the ESL Swedish and German actors quite well. She must be an exponent of the Brando school. There was plenty of overt social justice politics in it to destroy the movie as well. I give it a four because it's hard for me to give a movie less than that and seem fair. If sleeping pills don't work for you, try this.
Yet another adaptation of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs character. And to this film's credit, it's nice to see an adaptation of another Tarzan book aside from Tarzan of the Apes. If only they didn't ruin the character in the process.It's somewhat noticeable that the Wikipedia article for this movie doesn't refer to the main character as Tarzan. He's John, John Greystoke, a former ape man that has returned to the land of his forefathers and become civilized. Which is precisely the problem. I'm not saying such a storyline couldn't work. The books themselves did it in The Son of Tarzan, and it worked very well. Rather the problem is that of tone.Let me explain. Tarzan as a character is a proto-superhero. His popularity paved way for the superheroes of the 20th century. And like those superheroes, he was essentially, at the core of his character, an ideal. A somewhat racially insensitive, overblown and colonially inspired ideal, but an ideal none the less. He was more than a mere man. In him intermixed myth, legend and the potential of mankind. Just like they do in modern comics and movies.Which is why it is so hard for me, as an avid Tarzan fan, to watch a movie where my beloved childhood icon loses most of his fights, barely survives in the jungle, is weak in spirit and in speech, shows disdain for Africa and overall resembles the original character only in the broadest strokes possible. And yes, I know that they were merely trying to make the character and the story more realistic and modernized in values. But this is Tarzan. It's like making a story about Zeus where the central conflict is Hera filing a divorce against him for cheating on her with multiple women, men and animals. It would be more realistic and modern, yes, but is that really what you would like to see.Aside from Tarzan the movie has its ups and downs. The cast is plenty strong with Christoph Waltz, Margot Robbie and even Samuel L. Jackson lending their talent. The CGI is okay, the costuming looks good and the aesthetics overall are pleasing. The ending is a bloated CGI mess. You know you probably should use a bit more money on effects when The Lion King did almost the exact scene more convincingly over two decades ago.The Legend of Tarzan failed to impress me. Its main character is horrible, its story is forgettable and overall it only has a few big name actors and some nice visuals to offer.