The Legend of Tarzan

By: John Delia

With a hefty $180 million dollar budget the film The Legend of Tarzan makes its bow this weekend looking for the PG-13 crowd to swing into action and make it a box office winner. The production used every bit of the budget with an adventure that takes you on a roller coaster ride; just taking time in between drops to catch your breath before moving on to the next exciting twist and turn.

And it’s not an impossibility to take control of the weekend with the exciting trailer pushing the target audience into theaters. With only 2 PG films for competition and a sagging Independence Day 2, it just may crack the cost nut and save the production treasury. BUT, can the film do better than box office winners like Jungle Book or push aside the momentum of Finding Dory or do battle with the giants in BFG? They are the real questions.

It’s been many years since the John Clayton, (Alexander Skarsgard) the Lord of Greystoke Manor (formerly known as Tarzan), has even thought of going back to the Congo where he grew up. With the Belgian Empire going through hard times under King Leopold, his council has been looking to exploit the riches of the Congo, a part of their empire. At a meeting of the Belgium Council they ask Clayton to go back to his country as an emissary of good will.

Already researching the country, Belgian Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) has found a way to get the diamonds that are plentiful in the region yet controlled by renegade Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou). For revenge on Tarzan for killing his son, Rom has promised to deliver Tarzan to Chief Mbonga in return for the glitter stones. So begins a story of revenge, retribution and healing old wounds that have come to the surface.

The film goes on from there as we find Tarzan taking his wife Jane (Margot Robbie) back to their former roots. Tagging along is United States Ambassador George Washington Williams who’s investigating the Congo’s slave trade. Director David Yates (Harry Potter) keeps his adventure tight and exciting using flash backs to show the story of how Clayton ended up in the jungle, his ape caregivers and his chance meeting with Jane. But it’s the main storyline that makes the adventure an unpredictable roller coaster ride that has new challenges at every turn.

Using every possible type of special effects with a plethora of computer graphics Yates’s animals and sets are astounding. The film gets very realistic with angry gorilla attack adding severe consequences, a water buffalo stampede of a seaport, realistic jungle landscapes that provide vines on which to transport, massive native tribes doing battle and much more. Yates sets his focus on Tarzan and Jane in their fight against antagonist Rom, but it’s the jungle backdrop with rough terrain, high cliffs and dense undergrowth that make it all look real and treacherous.

The cast lead by Alexander Skarsgard as Tarzan does a good job of depicting their characters throughout the film. Skarsgard worked months on conditioning his body to fit the iconic jungle hero with crafted abs and muscular upper body. He easily handles the jungle with ease jumping from cliffs, swinging from vines, fighting the Belgian militia, and facing off against Chief Mbonga’s very threatening tribe and much more. It all looks real and visuals are action packed.

The ever exciting Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers) gives his usual fine performance as Ambassador George Washington Williams who represents U.S. President Benjamin Harrison. He’s a staunch antislavery protagonist and wants the slave trade ended in the Congo. He’s the one who persuades Tarzan to return to Africa to help him investigate the enslavement of the people. Jackson brings a few surprises to the film along with some much needed comic relief. I like his character very much and it helps the film out of some boring moments.

The magnanimous Christoph Waltz plays the threatening antagonist Captain Leon Rom of the Belgian Militia a man possessed. He wants to be famous for pulling the Belgium regime out of debt and become rich in the process. Very intimidating and crafty his performance adds the necessary excitement to the film. Even though his character embodies some of his past performances as Nazi Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, and as Dr. King Shults in Django Unchained he’s still the master of wicked as seen here in Tarzan.

The film; however, is not a bed of roses giving a bit of déjà vu if you saw the recent Jungle Book or Planet of the Apes to name a few. The jungle looks a lot like Mowgli’s forest home in India and even includes an elephant walk that’s very similar and meaningful. The fierce fighting by the gorillas is reminiscent of 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Tarzan’s fight with his brother gorilla brings back memories of Leonardo de Caprio’s run in with a bear in Revenant. Some of the laughable moments include a man in a Congo city walking with a crocodile at the end of a leash dog style and a face to face between Samuel L. Jackson and an ostrich. The green screen fails surprisingly with some very dull mountains in the background during the finale. Its and unexpected faux pas as it’s this portion of the film where much of the $180 million was probably spent.

The Legend of Tarzan has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of action and violence, some sensuality and brief rude dialogue. The violence looks real and attacks by gorillas clawing and biting can be a little much for immature adolescents.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A tall tale of a jungle Icon. (C+)