The Legend of Tarzan - C-

​Quick Hit: If you like a mixed bag, you’ll love this one.

Tarzan the Man Raised by Apes has been told so, so, so many times. There are classic TV shows, classic movies, and classic stories. When you approach a story that has been adapted so many times, there is a temptation to borrow some of what comes from before. The problem with that is that there are so many adaptations that it’s inevitable your movie will start to feel stuffed. That’s not necessarily the problem with today’s entry, Legend of Tarzan¸ but it’s awfully similar: there is too many different directions 

the movie tries to take, and almost none of them finish strongly.

I really liked the initial impression I got from the movie. The movie starts and Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård) has taken up his previous moniker of John Clayton and is living in England. There are few vestiges left of the man he once was – a slouched posture, a curved, tough knuckle – and he seems to be adapting to his new life. Jane (Margot Robbie) seems to be less adapted, which is a fun turn on what you would expect, seeing as in most interpretations she was raised in England. Soon though, Dr. Williams (Sam Jackson) convinces Tarzan to return to the Congo and help stop a rampant slave trade 

being led in part by Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz). The problem is that this plot really tanks with its own weight after a while.

The plot isn’t overly complicated, but the way that it is filmed is. There is a myriad of camera angles, special effects use, and camera techniques, which consistently adds to the 

Christoph Waltz looking Christoph Waltz-y

disjointed feel of the film. This myriad of techniques causes some scenes to feel like the blockbuster that the movie was truly meant to be, and other scenes to feel like they are out of an intense romance film. There is one scene in particular with Tarzan and Jane in their bungalow type hut that features incredibly intense close-ups where you can see imperfections and pores on the actor’s skin. It’s beautiful, but it’s also confusing, because almost no other scenes feature this attention to detail.

There's also abs galore. Need to stop writing blog posts and hit the gym more.

​The characters are pretty stock – Tarzan doesn’t say much and doesn’t have much humor. This means that Dr. Williams is led to carry the humor, mostly in the “inept sidekick” role. It’s sad to see Jackson relegated to this status, but he is nonetheless entertaining in the movie. Christoph Waltz plays the same character as usual (a grinning, vocabulary-intensive, aristocrat with a pension for evil), but it’s his niche for a reason – he’s good at it. The character that had the biggest see-saw of them all was Robbie’s Jane.

Women in movies have come so far from the original Tarzan films. Whereas before women were there simply to serve the needs of men in films (sexually, marital-ly, damsel-ly), now we have real flesh and blood characters being brought to screen. The problem here is that Jane now has mixed lenses. She must be the traditional damsel for Tarzan to rescue (this drives the majority of the plot), but she must also be capable of her own rescue. What I thought was the biggest problem with the film was the directors and writers not being bold enough to go far enough with their ideas in this respect. For her part, Robbie does a good job at being both likeable and believable.

Overall, there are some fun action scenes (Tarzan with the gorillas) and some nice scenes with attention to detail. Unfortunately though, you’ll feel your interest waning as the movie plods on, and for that reason, it’s getting a “C-“ from me.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.