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| "He is no normal man. He was thought to be an evil spirit, a ghost in the trees." |
We’ve all heard the story. Man meets woman. They both fall
in love. You go home, meet the parents – only to find it’s a family of
gorillas. You probably all know the standard story of Tarzan (made famous by
Disney, no doubt), but this one’s a little different, but has plenty of nods to
the original stories, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, minus the Phil Collins
classics.
The Legend of Tarzan
follows John Clayton III, formerly known as Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), as he
journeys back to his home-land alongside his wife, Jane Porter Clayton (Margot
Robbie), to help George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) uncover
slave-trading schemes. Naturally, there are many plans afoot, most of them
being instigated by Captain Léon Rom (Christoph Waltz), who has aligned himself
with Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou), a vengeful tribe leader who controls the
diamond region, and who wants Tarzan dead.
Predictably, Alexander Skarsgård swings in to play the
titular character, with all the bravado and vigour you’d expect from the
notorious ape man, along with an abundance of convincingly menacing stares to
make up for the lack of dialogue. Not content to play a docile Jane, Margot Robbie
attempts to give the character some clout, but isn’t given a great deal of
material to work with; managing to captivate with what little she has clearly
fought for (kicking, spitting, punching, marking sassy comments), but never
fully reaching her true potential. Regardless, when Robbie & Skarsgård do
meet on-screen, their chemistry is effortlessly tangible, and make for a
passionate pair.
For much of the film, Skarsgård & Jackson seem to embark
on a jungle bromance, traipsing through the jungle lovingly, patching each
other up and cracking jokes along the way. It really shouldn’t work, but it
rather oddly does, as Jackson provides a sense of Django humour, guns blazing, whilst Skarsgård offsets the balance
with natural heart and spirit.
After a lacklustre performance as the villain in Spectre,
Waltz hits the mark as Léon Rom, with his suave white hat and trusty choking
rosary in hand. Commanding, ruthless and with a certain sense of cavalier
befitting a man in his position, Rom is the villain you definitely want to see
go down, Captain Hook style, and Waltz delivers. However, when you have some of
the greats in your arsenal, you should probably use them more than The Legend of Tarzan does, and quite
frankly, this is one of those films that heavily relies on its actors to elevate
above standard blockbuster fare.
Fortunately, with director David Yates at the helm alongside
cinematographer Henry Braham, the two manage to create a visually breath-taking
movie that revels in its lush surroundings, cascading waterfalls and
atmospheric animal acoustics; an impressive feat considering the majority of
filming took place in England. Nevertheless, each destination, animal and
environment feels as if it is real, and this is essential in a movie that
focuses so heavily on heart, life, and freedom.
Whilst The Legend of
Tarzan isn’t particularly ground-breaking or original, it is a feverishly invigorating,
gorilla-fighting ride that is visually astounding – and one that is certainly propelled
to higher heights in the trusty arms of its actors.
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