The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema The Big & Small Screen —
FOR some reason, “The Legend of Tarzan” almost escaped me during the course of this year.
I watched the movie a couple of months ago but it never occurred to me to sit down and write my take on this colossal disappointment of a movie.
After all, it was one of the most anticipated movies of the year and after the success that was “Jungle Book”, it only makes sense that there should have been some sort of excitement around the movie’s release. If not from you, the audience, then at least from me.
“The Legend of Tarzan” is yet another remake from the ever-charging Warner Brothers Pictures. The storyline was refreshingly different but not perfect. The performances top notch, but not memorable.
Prior to its release, everything else seemed to be pointing at another hit, but the end result was a forgettable flop. Such is the paradox of “The Legend of Tarzan”.
Its biggest weakness is that in its attempt at originality and creativity, the film got lost. We will delve on that point later.
“The Legend of Tarzan” follows the life of our favourite Ape-man well after he has been raised by apes, met Jane and escaped the jungle to return home to London.
As a result of the Berlin Conference, the Congo Basin is claimed by King Leopold II of the Belgians, who rules the Congo Free State in personal union with the Kingdom of Belgium. He has basically cut out the Congo basin from the rest of the world.
The country is on the verge of bankruptcy, Leopold having borrowed huge amounts of money to finance the construction of railways and other infrastructure projects in Africa. In response, he sends his envoy Léon Rom (Christoph Waltz) to secure the fabled diamonds of Opar to finance his operations.
Unfortunately, Rom’s team is ambushed and massacred by the natives, leaving Rom as the sole survivor. A tribal leader, Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou), then offers him the diamonds in exchange for an old enemy — Tarzan.
This sets in motion an elaborate plan, which lures Tarzan from England where he has been living under his birth name John Clayton III with wife Jane Porter (Margot Robbie).
Tarzan accepts an “invitation” from Leopold, to visit Africa. He soon finds himself reconnecting with old friends and animals and at loggerheads with both Chief Mbonga and Rom.
After years of reboots and origin stories, it is quite refreshing that writers Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer chose to give us a totally different take on the Tarzan story.
Whether that was a good or bad story is another issue altogether, but the mere fact that they gave us a new story deserves credit.
With huge talents such as Samuel L. Jackson (George Washington Williams), Margot Robbie (Jane), Christoph Waltz (Leon Rom), Djimon Hounsou (Mbonga) and Alexander Skarsgard (Tarzan); it was almost a guarantee that the performances would be top notch.
Waltz is obviously the star of the show as he embodies the ego maniacal, calculating Leon Rom. His accents give me thrills. I am a big fan of how the guys seem to have mastered the whole villain plot.
Big Sam is big Sam. Hounsou and Skarsgard really do not do much, but they seem to have grasped the essence of their roles. They are big, muscular and scary.
Much like Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie simply has to be herself and our job is to enjoy her in all her glory. The imagery, cinematography and dialogue is really great. But there is a lack of balance.
First of all, the Computer Generated Images are lousy and ruin the audiences’ viewing. I can only imagine how terrible the animals, particularly the apes and lions, look like in 3D.
When you take a children’s classic like Tarzan, it is almost obvious who the target audience is. An unrepentant 32-year-old man-child like myself considers it a gift that I can still sit down to some of these children’s films or yester-year classics with such glee.
I consider it a gift that I am still in touch with my inner child that I can still revel in these things from my past and enjoy them like there are brand new.
I did not get that with this movie.
As I sat through this 110 minute film, I found it hard to comprehend some of the imagery. For a film with an age restriction of 12 years, strong slave trade undertones in scenes where black men are chained at the neck, and gratuitous violence, are hardly appropriate.
The film lacks the fun and excitement expected from such a childlike story. Some of the tale’s iconic characters were not even mentioned. Also, some of the real life historical characters and facts are totally wasted on its target audience.
The finale and third act is totally ruined by an elaborate CGI filled action sequence. The flashbacks are of no connection or relevance to the main story of the day and act only as a reminder of whose story (Tarzan) they are trying to tell.
In my books, and most importantly in film, this is referred to as “laziness”.
