Finally.
Finally finally FINALLY. Hollywood has given us a Tarzan film about the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Not a monosyllabic swinging caveman. Not basically an American running around in a loin cloth. This film is freaking TARZAN of the freaking APES.
And of course the dumb ášš critics, the same ones who lambasted “John Carter” into oblivion, are dismissing it for no good reason.
This is quite simply the first Tarzan film I’ve ever seen that seems like it could have been drafted directly from an ERB novel. Featuring a sidekick who is clearly out of his depth (as was commonplace in the ERB novels) and a villain based on an actual historical figure, “The Legend of Tarzan” moves its way deftly between John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, as he tries to balance his life between being a British aristocrat and a denizen of the jungle.
Alexander Skarsgard is thoughtful and brooding as the ape man as he alternates between dealing with his current crisis and having flashbacks to his origins, and Margot Robbie is game as a 21st century woman portraying the distinctly 19th century Jane Porter (correctly portrayed as American, although her origins are somewhat different.) Christopher Weitz is comfortably evil, as we’ve grown accustomed to him being, and Samuel L. Jackson serves as something of a conscientious everyman as the historically based George Washington Williams. He provides a consistent 19th Century point of view of a man who has come through the civil war and is concerned about slavery as a broader issue.
What amused me is that one of the few positive reviews I’ve seen of the film likened Tarzan to Aquaman, which is funny considered I often likened Aquaman to Tarzan. Two lords of their environment who can communicate with animals.
Is it perfectly paced? No. The first half drags in places. But it’s totally worth sitting through. One review said in its headline that this is not your grandfather’s Tarzan. Yes, it is. This is the Tarzan that your grandfather read about as a kid and loved. You should, too.
PAD
• 
I hate to be “that guy”, but it’s Christoph Waltz, not Christopher Weitz. They’re two totally different guys!
I was on the fence about this one until I read the positive review in the New York Times.
If you check on youtube “everything wrong with John Carter” from cinemasins you’ll see why it was panned. As much as I love Burrough’s pulp novels, they don’t translate well into movies, especially with today’s PC police nitpicking at the racial undertones from a century ago.
How does it compare to “Greystoke: Legend of Tarzan”. The commercials give off such a vibe I was looking for Christopher Lambert.
Oh good lord, no, it’s ten times better than Greystoke.
PAD
Haven’t seen it yet, but I wanted to as soon as I saw the clip of Samuel Jackson’s character meeting Tarzan for the first time.
When I was a little kid, I enjoyed watching reruns of the Ron Ely Tarzan series; I never warmed up to the old Johnny Weismuller films, or thier successors. Honestly, the best version of Tarzan I’ve seen to date is the Disney film, plus the tv series based on it (which had La of Opar, and Pellucidar for heaven’s sake!)
Miles O’Keefe was awful…I could stand Greystoke aside from Lambert’s ape-grunting…never saw the Casper Van Dien film, or the last live-action tv series they did. The Legend of Tarzan looks like a good prospect, though.
I saw the movie on Friday and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.
It’s not a candidate for best film of all time or anything, but it was well worth watching and not something you do just to kill a couple of hours.
And I was one who LOVED John Carter.
I read that ‘lost’ Tarzan book Dark Horse put out in the 90s (I think Joe R Lansdale helped complete it?). It was such a good read. Tarzan was a very, very cool force of nature. I’m interested in seeing this version, but will likely wait until I can rent it.
I can guarantee you is that if enough people have that attitude, it will make certain that there’s never a sequel. If you want to support it, go see it in the movie theater.
PAD
I saw it yesterday afternoon and LOVED IT!! Just like
ERB, he’d be proud!! My friend liked it too…
In my opinion, the most faithful screen version was the 1976 Filmation.
I’ve only seen the trailer for this new one but the CGI looks wonky.
I remember critics lambasting the Robin Williams “Popeye” for not being true to character…
Really glad to have read this.
I’ve been pretty stoked since seeing the initial trailer. Looked like finally, a “good” Tarzan movie.
Then I saw the reviews and my heart sank.
I tend to agree with your reviews and opinions on movies and TV shows. I’ll absolutely lend more credence to this than what I’ve read on Rotten Tomatoes.
Once again, looking forward to seeing this and supporting it.
I saw it with my aunt and grandpa and thought it was great. The funny thing about most of the reviews I saw about it was that their main beef never seemed to be with the movie as much as with doing the movie today. They all boiled down to “A Tarzan movie in 2016? Isn’t that kind of racist?”