THE LEGEND OG TARZAN (2016) Review
Directed by David Yates
The vine swinging hero is back on the big screen with a new story to tell, at least that is what The Legend of Tarzan wants to be.
From the director of the last four Harry Potter films, David Yates goes from the wizarding world to the jungle. While the scope is not as big as the Harry Potter films, The Legend of Tarzan wants to be as ambitious and as grand as his previous works. But the magic obviously left where they should have remained as The Legend of Tarzan doesn’t quite work well enough to actually pull-off the story it wants to tell.
Starring Alexander Skarsgard as the king of the jungle, with Margot Robbie, Samule L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz supporting him, the film has a lot of stories to tell, having to follow the already told tale of Tarzan for many times in the past, here they want him to return and save his home.
The film is pretty ambitious, yes, but it is confusing because of its treatment. The story is decent as you can easily follow it but it doesn’t entirely feel like a Tarzan movie. It wanted to build the core of its story on the romance between Tarzan and Jane but you end up following nothing from the two. Samuel L. Jackson as the comic relief gives break to the serious tone of the film. It might not get as big as its scope but there are entertaining sequences the audiences might enjoy.
This may be a proof that David Yates is a so-so director, while we can admire the work he had done with the Harry Potter films, we cannot deny that his Harry Potter films weren’t the best of the bunch. And that is felt here in The Legend of Tarzan, ambitious as it may look, it can’t balance its characters and even the story itself. And as a result, the film goes out building something big but ends disappointing because you won’t feel the needed connection for the two lovers finding their way to be with each others arms.
2.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
“The Legend of Tarzan” is now showing in Philippine cinemas nationwide from Warner Bros. Pictures. Also available in 3D and IMAX 3D. Rated PG by the MTRCB.
Big Tarzan fan here. I read the novel a few times, loved “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan” (the definitive Tarzan flick for me) and even dug the Johnny Weissmuller movies as a kid, but man, the new movie… meh.The new “The Legend of Tarzan” (not to be confused with the Greystoke movie) is just not that great. The True Blood guy is great in the roll of Tarzan. He’s a good actor anyway.