Movie Review: The Legend Of Tarzan (DVD) - The Story of "Woke" Tarzan

Genre Action, Adventure
Director David Yates
Producer David Barron, Jerry Weintraub, Alan Riche, Tony Ludwig
Actors Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz
Where we got our copy Times Media Group
Reviewed on DVD
Available on DVD, Bluray

Khanival

Published December 1, 2016

The Legend of Tarzan is a film that went over my head (like Tarzan usually does on those tree vines) on its initial cinema release. It unfortunately came out too soon after Disney’s live action remake of The Jungle Book, which was absolutely stunning, from the ability to retell the classic story to its breathtaking CGI. Hence, it was going to take a lot to convince audiences that the retelling of the jungle man would be worth it and almost match up to what we’ve seen already from Disney. Plus, if you’re expecting that amazing Phil Collins track from the ’90s, expect disappointment. (I know, how could they leave uncle Phil out? He single-handedly made that Tarzan film with just a song).

There are a few things from first glance that threw me off about this film. Alexander Skarsgård is Tarzan??? The vampire guy from True Blood? He looks nothing like Tarzan? He’s so tiny!?! How was this little Swedish guy going to resemble the intimidating, beastly king of the jungle? Can he swing from vines, tackle lions and wrestle giant apes? But, then you start to understand why they cast him when you find out the premise.

The Breakdown

So, without being too “spoilerrific”, the movie begins with a title sequence explaining that the Congo has been colonised by some Belgians. But now, the King who invaded the land is broke because they’ve made shit worse in the country with all their beautiful raping and pillaging, so they want to move out, but they still want the leftover diamonds and other wealth that they came for. Got it? Good. So the King sends an old friend, Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) out to the Congo to help him get the goods. But, in order to retrieve the diamonds he wants, he makes a deal with a tribe leader (Djimon Hounsou) that owns these precious diamonds. If you wants diamonds, bring me Tarzan.

But, where’s Tarzan? I’ll tell you where. He’s in a big mansion in England now. And he’s “civilised”. Yes, people, because if you’re from a bush in Africa, you’re not civilised. Being civilised is shown through Tarzan’s new “appropriate” dressing. He is sipping tea from a cup now (I shit you not), his hair is combed and he looks “presentable”. He even goes by the name of John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke. (So there’s our reason why they’ve cast Skarsgård. Tarzan has been out of the jungle for a while so they didn’t want somebody who looked like The Rock. Although I think the film might have been ten times better if Tarzan was The Rock.)

Anyway, Tarzan has been given an invitation by the British and Belgian governments to return “home” and report on the f***up they’ve made in Congo, because, you know, he’s from there, he knows the land better than us and we can increase trade relations (you know, European stuff). Tarzan refuses but in steps Samuel L. Jackson. An American who convinces Tarzan to go back, because “bad motherf***er” here has a hunch that the Belgians are enslaving Congolese people. And the only person (yes, the ONLY person) who can help is Lord Greystoke aka Tarzan. And his wife. Oh yes, his wife wants to come along too. Jane (Margot Robbie). They’re married now. She just wants to go back “home”. But little do they know, the (sometimes confusing and recognisable) plot that is waiting for them on their journey back.

Khanival Thinks That…

Let me start off with a few quotes that appear on the cover of the DVD and its sleeve. If you read these before, during and after watching the film, there’s a lot that needs questioning.

“ A New Threat Awaits ” – Hmmm. I don’t know if colonisation and slavery is that “new” hey? Oh, they’re talking about Tarzan. My bad.

“ The Best Possible Tarzan For Our Time – Stephanie Zacharek, TIME” – Did our time really need a Tarzan? I mean, we had the Disney film in the ’90s. They should have just left it to them to do the live action remake, for the best possible version, if The Jungle Book was anything to go by.

“ Discover how Tarzan has been re-envisioned in a new epic adventure with a bold new look and attitude for a whole new generation ” – This whole new generation is undergoing Trump as president, Black Lives Matter and Fees Must Fall. They’re basically saying they’re making a more “woke” version of Tarzan. Nice one, Hollywood.

So, ultimately, this “woke” Tarzan just makes me feel uncomfortable. Is Hollywood just trying too hard now in this Trump era? Trying to address decolonisation and slavery through old tales and characters isn’t exactly working well for them. Plus, technically, this film is really messy. I really did not enjoy the noticeable CGI animals at all. With a big budget film such as this, I would expect the apes and lions to blend into the environment and not stand out like a sore thumb. I was really surprised when I found out David Yates, who directed four Harry Potter films and Fantastic Beasts, agreed to do this project. Even his magic touch couldn’t help save this film unfortunately.

For all it’s shortcomings and its predictability, the film at least provides a take on Tarzan that we’ve never heard of or seen before, and that is the only thing that it’s got going for it.

Sideshow Attractions (Special Features)

There are three featurettes:

Tarzan Reborn: A basic behind the scenes featurette about how the casting, conceptualising and filming of the Tarzan was done. Interesting insight about why they cast Skarsgård, his training regime and more.

Gabon To the Big Screen: The producers talk about how beautiful Gabon was to shoot in, but all they did was shoot landscapes and backgrounds. Everything else was shot in a studio in London and the actors never stepped an actual foot in Africa.

Stop Ivory: This is the social responsibility part of the film, where we have to try and stop people from killing elephants in Africa by buying this DVD.

The Legend of Tarzan is a film that went over my head (like Tarzan usually does on those tree vines) on its initial cinema release. It unfortunately came out too soon after Disney's live action remake of The Jungle Book, which was absolutely stunning, from the ability to retell the classic story to its breathtaking CGI. Hence, it was going to take a lot to convince audiences that the retelling of the jungle man would be worth it and almost match up to what we've seen already from Disney. Plus, if you're expecting that amazing Phil Collins track from the '90s, expect disappointment. (I know, how could they leave uncle Phil out? He single-handedly made that Tarzan film with just a song). There are a few things from first glance that threw me off about this film. Alexander Skarsgård is Tarzan??? The vampire guy from True Blood? He looks nothing like Tarzan? He's so tiny!?! How was this little Swedish guy going to resemble the intimidating, beastly king of the jungle? Can he swing from vines, tackle lions and wrestle giant apes? But, then you start to understand why they cast him when you find out the premise. The Breakdown So, without being too "spoilerrific", the movie begins with a title sequence explaining that the Congo has been colonised by some Belgians. But now, the King who invaded the land is broke because they've made shit worse in the country with all their beautiful raping and pillaging, so they want to move out, but they still want the leftover diamonds and other wealth that they came for. Got it? Good. So the King sends an old friend, Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) out to the Congo to help him get the goods. But, in order to retrieve the diamonds he wants, he makes a deal with a tribe leader (Djimon Hounsou) that owns these precious diamonds. If you wants diamonds, bring me Tarzan. But, where's Tarzan? I'll tell you where. He's in a big mansion in England now. And he's "civilised". Yes, people, because if you're from a bush in Africa, you're not civilised. Being civilised is shown through Tarzan's new "appropriate" dressing. He is sipping tea from a cup now (I shit you not), his hair is combed and he looks "presentable". He even goes by the name of John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke. (So there's our reason why they've cast Skarsgård. Tarzan has been out of the jungle for a while so they didn't want somebody who looked like The Rock. Although I think the film might have been ten times better if Tarzan was The Rock.) Anyway, Tarzan has been given an invitation by the British and Belgian governments to return "home" and report on the f***up they've made in Congo, because, you know, he's from there, he knows the land better than us and we can increase trade relations (you know, European stuff). Tarzan refuses but in steps Samuel L. Jackson. An American who convinces Tarzan to go…

Movie Review: The Legend Of Tarzan (DVD) – The Story of “Woke” Tarzan

2016-12-01

Khanival

Meh Tarzan, Blegh Jane

Total - 3

30 3

The Legend of Tarzan is new, but it's not refreshing. It's pretty predictable and technically a lazy piece of filmmaking.

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Khanival

Videographer / Entertainment Author

Adventure, wackiness, fun and bizarre. Things you will find that exist in Khanival’s world. Loves moving pictures (also known as movies or films to some) and is passionate about visual storytelling, from filmmaking to video editing and even photography. Fellow geeks will be invited and informed, quite honestly, into cinema’s latest offerings and more in a wonderful, yet strange "Khanival".