Review of Tarzan (1999) by Alexander M — 24 Oct 2015

Rating: Fantastic.

Just watched Tarzan last night and it was just delightful. I was surprised with how much I remembered from my many viewings as a child. This will contain spoilers, but I imagine if you are reading this you have seen the movie.

Here are the things that stuck out the most this time I watched it, first off with the action. The rope-swinging, tree sliding, jaguar jumping scenes gracefully fly across the screen and keep your eyes on the screen. This movie also does something that some modern superhero films could learn, perfectly utilizing two villains in Sabor and Clayton. Sabor sets the tone and provides a vicious simple enemy in the beginning to be conquered, and Clayton is more a classic Disney baddie with the a strong blend of greed and charisma.

Moving onto the antagonists and yet another piece that stuck out last night was the romance between Tarzan and Jane. The time they spend on screen together is more compared to other Disney couples, and their relationship evolves naturally. I believe that Jane is invested in Tarzan and vice versa from the moment they are introduced. "Tarzan, Oh I see", and other comedic moments in their interactions just further that love story. Ultimately how they end up together is a perfect bow on the gift we received in this romance.

This film is not without its' flaws and one of them is the mismatch of the tone and the music. It is certainly sacrilege to disgrace Phil Collin's superb soundtrack, but it is utilized in some awkward ways throughout that undercut the tone. The upbeat tunes are welcome in most moments, but in scenes where we have a baby ape being eaten by Sabor (#familyfriendly) the music is unwelcome. I understand this is a children's movie so something has to break the tension, but it detracts. Another #familyfriendly aspect that hampers the movie is the 88 minute run time, which could have been expanded to strengthen some relationships that were underutilized.

One last thought I had in this movie is that I alluded to earlier is that I think is actually a superhero story. Tarzan certainly has the tragic upbringing of losing his parents at a a young age. And at least in this film he portrays qualities that are exceptional in terms of intelligence, strength, and agility. Even if that is just him being in peak human condition he still has the ability to mimic sounds perfectly, which might not be the most exciting super power but is one none the less.