[Movie Review] The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Posted on July 1, 2016 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Director: David Yates

Writers: Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer

Runtime: 109 min

Main Cast:

Alexander Skarsgård as John Clayton / Tarzan
Christoph Waltz as Leon Rom
Samuel L. Jackson as George Washington Williams
Margot Robbie as Jane Clayton

Review: by Mia

Growing up, I was a pretty big fan of the animated Tarzan movie. As an adult, I was hoping to get the same out of this world story with a contemporary twist on Tarzan and Jane. I didn’t want the Disney experience from this live-action version of the film, but I did want to see Tarzan impress everyone with his against all odds magic. He was a baby that survived infancy with a gorilla for a foster mother after all. Aesthetically, I approved of Margot Robbie as Jane and looked forward to seeing the modern perspective of the woman who “tames” Tarzan. Mainly, I just wanted a refreshing retelling of the Tarzan story we all know so well, with visual and CGI effects that at least matched the best movies that came out this year (The Jungle Book, for example).

The story is refreshed for our benefit. The story begins with an expedition into the Congo sponsored by the beyond bankrupt colonizer of the Congo and King of Belgium. The expedition ends in the death of the entire group, save for the leader and right hand of the King of Belgium: Leon Rom. He is tasked by Tarzan’s arch nemesis, Chief Mbonga, to bring to him Tarzan in exchange for access to the diamonds beneath his territory. This is no easy feat, since Tarzan has been in England for the past 8 years living as heir to his family’s vast wealth and repute. Although he is infamous in England for his upbringing and the story of how he and Jane, daughter of an American Professor who taught English in Africa, fell in love, he does not claim much of his past easily. In England, he goes by his given name Lord John Clayton III of Greystoke and is not interested in the pleas of the government to have him tour the Congo and surrounding lands as support of the colonization efforts initiated by the King of Belgium.

Of course, this endorsement tour is simply a ploy to get Tarzan to return to the continent to face Chief Mbonga and win Leon Rom the diamonds he needs to fund his ambitions to colonize the country and profit off of its natural resources. This spirals into a tale of Tarzan and his allies, both human and animal, struggling to overcome greed, cruelty, enslavement, and the mistakes of their past all while trying to thwart the harsh goals of the colonial government taking control of Tarzan and Jane’s old home.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about the story. There were some areas of the plot that were very compelling, such as the source of the hatred and pain between Tarzan and Chief Mbonga. This is a story of love and honor and the thin line between animal response and the human ability to choose how to respond. It was an interesting line throughout the movie to follow. However, there were so many other aspects occurring at the same time within the movie that each one begins to feel like it didn’t get quite enough development and attention to make the movie its best. The investigation of slavery within the region led by Tarzan and his newfound comrade George Washington Williams, played by Samuel L. Jackson certainly deserved more attention and development. Also, Jane quickly became more of a plot device than a developed character, which was disappointing because I anticipated the development of such a character in a modern telling of the story of Tarzan. Throughout the movie, she is toeing the line between helpless damsel and wild and independent fighter. I wanted more from her character than to be the carrot dangled in front of Tarzan in order to get him where the antagonist needed him to be.

The antagonist (Leon Rom) felt underdeveloped. We are given a brief summary of who he is and what his ambitions are by other characters throughout the film and when we see him he is merely expressing his obsessive fascination with Jane and her ties to the wild Tarzan. There are a few moments where his conniving traits shine through, but ultimately, he does not leave the audience intimidated and doesn’t ever feel like a true threat to Tarzan. The highly anticipated confrontation between Tarzan and Chief Mbonga is also pretty anti-climactic considering the amount of danger and efforts both sides have gone to leading up to the moment. The emotional climax is good, but the actual confrontation falls short of being believable or epic. It ends up being a short scene rushed through in order to move towards the more important climax within the film.

I did enjoy the film as a whole, but there were too many moments where intensity fell flat suddenly after a well-done buildup of character and plot development.

Summary

The film was interesting. They succeeded in refreshing the tale of Tarzan and providing us with the same against all odds character with a bigger than villain love story. Jane and Tarzan have an unbreakable bond, both between them as well as with the region in which they grew up. The movie does a great job of giving us a snippet of the original story while focusing on new challenges and antagonists for Tarzan to face. Classic Tarzan moments are kept while not feeling like cliché repeats and they did a great job of showing us the bonds between Tarzan and the animals that raised him. They even made the tension between Tarzan and his “father” gorilla much more realistic to the animalistic behavior of gorillas. Characters like George and Jane are great plot devices that provide humor and background, but ultimately are left undeveloped as individuals. Still, this is easy to get over since the focus of the legend is Tarzan. Ultimately, I would recommend watching the movie, especially if you appreciate believable effects and the story of Tarzan.

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