\"There are occasional flashbacks to expand on key points but in general the film gives audiences credit enough to know who Tarzan is.\"
Well, damned if it didn\'t give me too much, because I was mostly lost. It felt like the film relied on prior knowledge of the characters to convey its pathos for it, and that\'s not a good sign. The pacing suffered for me as a result; what you call \"rattling along nicely\", I call \"breakneck speed\". Alexander Skårsgard and Margot Robbie were adequate, but not irreplaceable, while Samuel L. Jackson had potential that was never fully realized. Christoph Waltz was a bust, I agree.
It\'s a shame, really, because the film already had a fine antagonist in the form of Mbonga. Djimon Hounsou blew Waltz out of the water, and the conflict between him and Tarzan (although poorly conveyed through flashbacks) contained some of the few interactions in the film that seemed heartfelt.
That\'s fair enough. The most basic story of Tarzan is \'boy raised by apes, becomes English lord, marries Jane\' so they didn\'t really need to go into much more depth than that, I feel, but perhaps more clarity would have helped.
Agreed that Mbonga was far, far better than Rom, and if I had the wiggle room I would have fitted that into the original review but sadly ran out of space.
"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."Leave a Comment:
Decent... but far from Legendary.
Tarzan has been the source of many, many movies by now, some good and others... not so much. The latest addition to that long list is this offering by David Yates.
Interestingly, and in defiance of modern trends, it does not function as an origin story. There are occasional flashbacks to expand on key points but in general the film gives audiences credit enough to know who Tarzan is. At the beginning of the film, John Clayton has been the Earl of Greystoke for many years, his time as Tarzan long since past. He is happily married to Jane, who is perhaps slightly too modern in her independence and boldness but as played by Margot Robbie is more than a match for the alpha male John.
In fact, both leads give it their all and Alex Skarsgard makes for a compelling Tarzan/John, and sells the internal struggle between blue-blood aristocrat and primal Jungle man expressively. Samuel L. Jackson as a crusading journalist/activist also turns in a decent performance, and most of the films admittedly sparse laughs are courtesy of his character. Sadly Christoph Waltz as the Big Bad phones in yet another 'affably evil smug snake' performance he could probably have managed in his sleep, and in fact probably did.
The film also addresses one of the more problematic aspects of the character and the source novels - for all it's virtues, the original Tarzan source was absolutely rife with shades of the Mighty Whitey trope. Whilst there is no plausible way to avoid Lord Graystoke being a white man, the film does at least downplay race as a defining characteristic. The African tribesmen view him as a friend and a brother, and any physical superiority (which is neglible for the most part anyway) is entirely due to his childhood environment, not the colour of his skin. Samuel L. Jackson's character is also the one who actually kicks the plot into motion and remains an important focal point, instead of having a white man swoop in to save savage natives from other, evil white men.
No Tarzan movie would be complete without his adoptive family of apes. The film acknowledges the marching on of science and makes it clear the rather violent apes in question are 'Mangani' and not gorillas, which are rather more gentle and peaceful in reality. It's notable that the film also goes out of its way to point out that whilst Tarzan might be strong and tough by human standards, a bull ape can (and in one brutal fight scene, does) kick his ass without much hassle.
All in all, the film is solid without being spectacular. The two leads give it their absolute utmost, perhaps more than the film truly deserves in all honesty. The special effects and music are good, the plot rattles along nicely and overall the film is a pretty satisfying watch - though the weak villain is so poor as to bring the whole movie down, which is a shame.