THE LEGEND OF TARZAN REVIEW — He Swings, He Misses
The Legend of Tarzan review, by Lisa Johnson Mandell
I was prepared to give The Legend of Tarzan the benefit of the doubt, because, hello? Alexander Skarsgard swinging through the wet and wild jungle, shirtless and with pants so perilously low-slung they’re they’re constantly threatening to fall off. And for the guys there’s the plucky and pulchritudinous Margot Robbie, also in wet clothes. In addition, David Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films, is at the helm. How could it not sore above the anticipated sex appeal?
I was not prepared for the tedious artistic choices, which made the movie glum and dreary for me. Cold filters in almost every instance turned brilliant green jungles muddy gray and brown. The film seemed stripped of all bright color, and therefore, most of its life. When Tarzan wasn’t swinging through the jungle via special effects that appeared to have been borrowed from Spiderman, or wrestling with apes, he was brooding, endlessly brooding. Samuel L. Jackson was one of the few characters who could get him, or the audience, to smile. The levity Jackson added was more than welcome.
I do give The Legend of Tarzan credit, however, for not being the same old story we’ve heard and seen so many times before. Here we find John Clayton III, aka Lord Greystoke, aka Tarzan, married to Jane and smoldering in luxury in England. He is reluctantly persuaded to return to the Congo to assist the government, unaware that the nefarious Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) has dire plans for him and the entire native population–both animal and human. If Waltz’s mustache twirling is growing a bit tiresome at this point, at least it’s novel to see 19th century Belgians cast as villains.
It’s not that the film is a complete waste of time. It’s just that I was expecting so much more. Here’s hoping that Skarsgard can swing up, out and beyond it.
Rated PG 13
1 Hour 49 Minutes
Get times and tickets at Fandango.com.
https://youtu.be/0-mkkT1sqK0
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN REVIEW — He Swings, He Misses
by Lisa Johnson Mandell
