The Legend Of Tarzan

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN

Director : David Yates
Year : 2016
Genre : Adventure
Rating : **1/2

 

Having made his mark on the world of cinema thanks to his stunning work on the final four installments in the beloved 'Harry Potter' series, director David Yates now sets his sights on another literary icon in the form of 'The Legend Of Tarzan', a narratively intriguing yet ultimately flimsy adventure epic that may send Edgar Rice Burrough's vine-vaulting hero in new directions but sadly leaves him with little room to breathe. Or swing. 

Unlike other cinematic versions of this immortal story, Tarzan has already found his Jane. In fact, Tarzan (played by a buff Alexander Skarsgard) has adopted his Christian name of John Clayton III, married his jungle sweetheart Jane (Margot Robbie as stunning as ever) and is now living in his deceased father's mansion in the centre of London. But when news arrives that a menacing Belgian captain (Christoph Waltz in typical slimy form) has started to enslave the Congolese people who provided him with shelter and friendship many years before, Clayton and Jane must return to their African homeland to save the people and the animals they love so much.

This 'sequelised' version of Burrough's immortal story certainly leaves room for a degree of invention and to his credit, Yates gleefully takes the opportunity to tinge his take on the myth of Tarzan with a darker edge than many of his cinematic predecessors. It's historically accurate themes of the colonisation, slavery and the subsequent massacre of the Congolese by King Leopold II will be novel to those expecting a traditional Tarzan film and while not every possibility is exploited to it's full potential, David Yates must be commended for trying to do something different with this most well-known of sagas.

However, for all of it's ideas and obvious originality, 'The Legend Of Tarzan' is consistently let down by a flimsy screenplay, a consistently sluggish pace and special effects that can't quite match the emotional heft of it's back story. Written by Adam Cozad and 'Hustle & Flow' director Craig Brewer, the dialogue of the film is mostly comprised of dull historical exposition and 'Avatar'-y white-man-bad rhetoric while the CGI used to bring the many creatures of the rainforest to life lacks the necessary heft and believability of the computer realised wonders of Matt Reeves' simian sci-fi sequel 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' or Jon Favreau's recent re-imagining of 'The Jungle Book'.

Matching the dourness and tedium of the plot are the performances. For all of his bulging biceps and perfectly chiseled pectorals, Alexander Skarsgard delivers a Tarzan that is severely devoid of the feral nature inherent to the character while Christoph Waltz, despite being as devilishly entertaining as ever, plays his Belgian captain with the same sly charm and dry wit we have now come to expect from the two time Oscar winner. The films many side characters are very poorly fleshed out too - given little in terms of dialogue or even personality to enhance the emotional or dramatic stakes. The only saving grace comes in the form of the luminous Margot Robbie who diffuses her performance of Jane with much more grit, verve and, ironically, more animalistic fire than her rugged co-star does. The film may be named 'The Legend Of Tarzan' but in reality, this is Jane's movie.