The Legend Of Tarzan Review

Recently I purchased the Legend of Tarzan on Blu Ray, I had wanted to go and watch it in the cinema when it was released in summer however I never got the chance. I sat down ready to watch looking forward to it being a huge Tarzan fan when I was younger and thoroughly enjoying Disney’s live action remake of The Jungle Book earlier this year.

The Legend of Tarzan takes place nearly 10 years after Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård) and Jane (Margot Robbie) left Africa to live in Victorian England. Jane becomes a pawn in a devious plan and Tarzan is forced to return to the jungle to save her.

The films starts off with a bang, setting the scene in the jungle with a whole action sequence of battle between some mercenaries and a native tribe – I felt it almost had a Pirates of the Caribbean sense to it. Unfortunately following this opening sequence, the rest of the film remains very flat and truthfully doesn’t make much sense at all. The backstory for Tarzan and Jane is almost non existent, a few flashbacks are supposed to remind everyone of what happened in the original Tarzan however these are poorly executed and have no real need to be in the film.

I almost feel as if they should have stayed away from the original as much as possible or solely remade that with live action. There are moments where you can clearly tell they have incorporate as much of the original as possible but are pointless and just act as a filler. For example there is a scene where Tarzan is in the jungle and a herd of elephants approaches him and Tarzan goes over to and strokes one of them, who I’m assuming is supposed to be Tantor from the animated movie. This comes with no addition to the storyline, maybe if the elephants had reappeared at the end for the ‘final battle’ then there would have been some purpose for this scene?

The (almost) saving grace for the film is how good it looks. Some of the cinematography is fantastic, the panoramic views of Africa are stunning and really do set the scene. There are a few moments where you can tell where the animals have been animated, however for the most part the film looks great.

To buy or not to buy? – Unfortunately I’d advise not to buy for The Legend of Tarzan, its an easy watch but lacks substance.

Rating: 5.6/10