Review of The Legend of Tarzan (2016) by Krisstolliday14 — 06 Nov 2016

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN: With all the superhero movies out there today it was inevitable that one of the first 'superheroes' was bound to get a remake. It is rather ironic however that it is Tarzan that fails to set any kind of benchmark and instead is one of the most generic out of the lot.

The plot at its heart is a simple damsel in distress as a rehabilitated Tarzan (now John of Greystoke) returns to his animalistic ways in order to save his beloved Jane. However the narrative of this straightforward plot takes many bends in the road as we include subplots of slavery, jurisdiction, politics, and a rather odd and perverted infatuation.

It is all far too much with a lot going on and nothing focused on. The characters are one dimensional with very little tension and emotion feeding through, and Tarzan's connection with the animals is either ham-fisted or unreliable.

We are made to believe that he can cope in this wild and then given an on the nose flashback to just remind you of who he is. The flashbacks are unnecessary but I believe are there to pad out the story as with the lack of depth there is very little to sustain the running time, despite it being less than two hours.

The cast are rather bland with Skarsgaard fighting a dull character, Samuel L Jackson being Samuel L Jackson, Margot Robbie given little to do and Christoph Waltz basically phoning it in. It isn't the worst film to hit the big screen this year but with the talent involved in it there should have been a much better film produced.

Too much and yet too little completely wastes The Legend of Tarzan.