The Legend of Tarzan

There is a trend in Hollywood right now where they are remaking several Disney classics as live action films rather than animated. Most of these films are in my own personal opinion, garbage with a few pretty good ones here and there. 2016’s ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ is neither of these. The film is neither garbage nor great. It is one of those films that you enjoy in the moment and then will most likely never watch again. It has a very solid cast with names such as Alexander Skarsgard, Christoph Waltz, Margot Robbie and Samuel L. Jackson. It was directed by David Yates, who is notable for directing the final four Harry Potter films and the recently released ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them’.

Tarzan (Skarsgard), having acclimated to life in London, is living by the name John Clayton and is married to Jane Clayton (Robbie) called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.

The film as mentioned before is not great, but it does have somethings that work well. For example Skarsgard as Tarzan is great. He clearly put a lot of effort into preparing for the role, and is therefore very believable in the role. The rest of the cast despite being very good in other films, are quite bland in this film. So don’t go into this movie expecting any solid performances.

The film is quite visually pleasing. When Tarzan is traversing through the jungle it does look good and somewhat believable. My only complaint in this area of the film is that some of the CGI leaves something to be desired. The animals look wrong in a way that I can’t quite pick. It’s a little problem, but once you notice it, you can’t get past it.

This movie really is just ok. A lot of hard work has clearly gone into making this film, but I can’t really say a lot of good things about it. If you like the live-action Disney remakes then you will probably like this as well. If you don’t, then you won’t. If you have nothing else to watch then this isn’t bad to pass some time. It’s a film that you only need to watch one time.

Score: 5/10