Review of Tarzan (2013) by Panta O — 01 Jul 2014

This American-German-French 3D computer-animated film directed and produced by German producer Reinhard Klooss was first released in October 2013 in Russia, and in early 2014 in other countries. The screenplay was written by Reinhard Klooss, Jessica Postigo and Yoni Brenner, and it was 90th movie adaptation of the classic book Tarzan of the Apes (1914) by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was unusual, made like a comic story, following environmentally friendly message and having a sci-fi feel. The film stars Kellan Lutz, Spencer Locke, Anton Zetterholm, Mark Deklin, Joe Cappelletti, and Jaime Ray Newman, and they just did enough!

I have to say that I prefer the classic story, but this one was interesting enough... started from 70,000,000 years ago, when a mountain-sized meteor, bristling with unknown energies, crashed into the Earth, with a major chunk of the object landing in Central African jungle. This impact resulted in ecological catastrophe causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. After that we move to the close of the 20th Century, when rich industrialist John Greystoke has been funding an expedition into the jungles of Africa to locate the meteor.. he thinks that this is just an ages-old legend, because despite the best efforts by scientist and adventurer James Porter, the expedition is a failure, and John is preparing to leave Africa with his wife, Alice, and their son, John Jr. That is when the story of the Tarzan actually begins...

This version is probably for the age between 8 and 10, and people who prefer the classic Tarzan could be annoyed with the rendering and all the elements drawing it close to Supermen and Avatar story (a subplot involving a meteorite-derived power source). Nothing special, but do not dismiss it too easily!