Review: The Legend of Tarzan


Lord John Clayton of Greystoke manor (Alexander Skarsgaard) ventures back to his former home in the jungles of Africa in the late 19th Century when a special envoy (Samuel L. Jackson) sent by U.S. President Benjamin Harrison is tasked with investigating claims of slavery under Belgian King Leopold. Chief menace is King Leopold’s own special envoy Leon Rorn (Christoph Waltz), whilst Margot Robbie plays Clayton’s wife Jane, who also travels to the Congo to be with her husband who feels as uneasy in the world of aristocracy he was born into, as he does in the jungle among apes where he grew up. Djimon Hounsou, in a bit of casting he should’ve escaped about a decade ago, plays a local African tribal chief in cahoots with Rorn.


I’m not the biggest Tarzan fan, but I did like “Greystoke” and the late 90s Disney animated “Tarzan”. This 2016 big-screen outing from director David Yates (“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”) and screenwriters Craig Brewer (director of “Hustle & Flow” and “Black Snake Moan”) & Adam Cozad (the underrated “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”) is pretty uneven stuff. I have a fair bit of time for him elsewhere, but Alexander Skarsgaard seems a bit lean and sinewy in the lead. I get that this was intentional, but realistic or not I always picture Tarzan as being more muscle-head than lean and toned. More importantly he (seemingly doing a glum Viggo Mortensen impersonation) and the character as written here are a bit dour and uninteresting.


Whatever there is to like here, tends to happen around or away from Tarzan. Former Aussie soap star Margot Robbie gets the American accent about 99.99% right here and looks absolutely radiant as Jane. She gives a very fine performance playing for the most part the film’s most interesting character. Yes, Jane does eventually move more closely into damsel in distress territory, but largely the character is no shrinking violet, which I love. No mere ornament, she’s feisty, stubborn, intelligent, and compassionate. This is probably Robbie’s best work to date, she’s easily the best thing about the film. When Samuel L. Jackson’s character is introduced as an African-American emissary appointed by U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (and Civil War veteran), I have to admit my initial reaction was: I love you Sam Jackson, but surely even you know that shit ain’t happening. Turns out the character is based on a real-life guy and for the most part the story checks out (Obviously Tarzan plays no part in the real-life account). Fair enough, and Jackson gives a fun, if pretty safe performance. Yes, the man does seem to cash a lot of checks these days rather than doing more high-brow stuff, but unlike most pay check-earning actors (*cough* Bruce Willis *cough*), Jackson usually looks like he’s having fun, and that’s the case here. As for Christoph Waltz, he may not be giving his acting chops a workout here in a villainous turn, but he’s rock-solid and well-(type)cast. He definitely needs the opportunity to explore different facets of his acting repertoire, though.


The few moments I did like involving Tarzan involve his interactions with some pretty convincing CG animals, which I really liked especially the gorgeous elephant herd and a cool fight between Tarzan and one of his former ‘brothers’. So there’s some fun stuff here, it’s just not a film with a whole lot of fun, and it’s awfully slow to start as well. I did like the first use of the infamous Tarzan yell though, as somewhat of a warning to Waltz’s character. As shot by Henry Braham (“Everybody’s Fine”, “The Golden Compass”), the film is stunning to look at, and the music score by Rupert Gregson-Williams (who has scored most of Adam Sandler’s films since “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”) is pretty solid too.


Parts are better than the whole here in this fairly dour and intermittently enjoyable retelling of the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs stories. Good supporting cast takes it some of the way, but a pretty unmemorable showing for the title character. You’re better off watching Jon Favreau’s incredible version of “The Jungle Book” for your jungle fix.


Rating: C+

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Boyka: Undisputed

Yuri Boyka (Scott Adkins) is out of prison and fighting for a living, with ambitions for the ‘Most Complete Fighter’ to make a real name for himself. However, after an opponent dies during a fight, the deeply religious Boyka starts to have a crisis of conscience. He tries to make amends with the man’s widow, which eventually pits him against a local gangster (Alon Moni Aboutboul, quite good). Anything with Scott Adkins will generally get me interested, and although this series peaked with the superlative “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” , this 2017 film from director Todor Chapkanov (director of the SyFy movies “Copperhead” and “Ghost Town” ) is no slouch in a series yet to deliver anything less than solid entertainment. Producer Isaac Florentine is missed in the director’s chair, but Chapkanov gives us at the very least the series’ most dramatically ambitious entry, as Adkins’ ‘most complete fighter’ Yuri Boyka continues on his journey to redemption here. In this one, the
Read more

Review: Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear

Scott Adkins is once again Casey, an American proponent of the martial art of Ninjutsu. When Casey’s pregnant Japanese wife (Mika Hijii) is rubbed out, he’s on a vengeance mission to find her killers. A friendly face, Nakabara (Kane Kosugi) turns up at the funeral, and suggests Casey come to Thailand to deal with his grief in another country. Casey initially declines, but eventually takes Nakabara up on his offer. However, his wife’s murder still haunts Casey, and with intel supplied by Nakabara, the trail eventually leads Casey to a brutal drug baron named Goro (Shun Sugata).   I was extremely disappointed with the first “Ninja” , but had heard that this 2013 sequel from director Isaac Florentine ( “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” , “Undisputed III: Redemption” , “Ninja” ) was a damn near masterpiece of the martial-arts action movie genre. Having now finally gotten my hot little hands on it, I’d say the hype is a bit much, but this is unquestionably a much better film than the f
Read more