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MOVIE
REVIEW:
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN
07/01/2016
SYNOPSIS:
It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
REVIEW:
Hey Moviegoers, for this review you are getting treated to
two reviews for the price of one. You'll get both Cine
Marcos and Priscilla reviews in this one review, so here
we go . . .
CINEMARCOS:
Jane Porter:
He is no normal man. He was thought to be an evil spirit,
a ghost in the trees. No man ever started with less.
A tale as old as time told again, but this time it is
a sequel with an embedded retelling of the original story.
Many argue that there is a lack of originality in movie
making these days. There are too many remakes, sequels,
prequels, series, etc. But you have to admit that certain
stories need to be retold with today's cinematic
technology, acting, and overall movie making abilities.
This is one of those cases and they did it right. Plus,
it's not just a Tarzan redo, it's a rare sequel, so it's
an extension of the well known story. It is a period piece
which keeps the story grounded but still chock full of the
adventure you'd expect from any Tarzan episode. This time
we find Lord John Clayton (Tarzan) in London at first and
then he returns to Africa. The change in scenery is
palpable. Once he's back, it doesn't take long for his
"skills" to be tested. The cinematography and filming
locations used throughout this film are breathtaking and
appropriate. It reminded me a lot of King Kong, the most
recent one, in a good way. Another good aspect of this
film was the job well done with regards to casting. At
first I was a little skeptical of Alexander Skarsgård in
the title role, but as usual, I was proved wrong. He gives
us a believable Tarzan which was my main concern. My
relatively new crush, Margot Robbie, gives us an empowered
Jane that was very well done. I love me some Sam Jackson
in just about any movie, but his role here was a little
awkward for me. He does have an important role but it also
incorporated some comic relief that was probably
unnecessary, especially from him. He is too larger than
life to be the comic relief. Now, once again, one of the
strongest performances was given by Christoph Waltz. I say
once again because pretty much any movie he's in he stands
out. He is just sooo good at being cold, deviant, and
violent. He is scary good. And putting all this together
is Director David Yates primarily of Harry Potter fame.
Yeah, he did good. Well, let me stop here and give
Priscilla a chance.
PRISCILLA:
Ok, let me give you the "Tarzan geek" version of this
review. Let me start by letting you know that as a kid, I
spent a lot of summers as Jane. What I mean to say by that
is that my brother, cousin and I would spend our summers
at grandma and grandpa's house truly pretending, no,
believing we were Jane, Tarzan and boy (sometimes cousin
would be Cheetah, but don't ask me why). That said, we saw
every Tarzan movie, every Tarzan TV show, and even read
Tarzan comic books! My favorite Tarzan of course is the
classic Johnny Weissmuller. In my childish mind, he really
was this all braun, very little brains kind of wildman,
not an actor. Decades later, 1984 to be exact, I had to be
there on opening day when Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,
Lord of the Apes came out. Christopher Lambert was
awesome, not that every critic agreed, but to me it was
Tarzan! He had the muscles, wild good looks and played the
animalistic part of Tarzan very well. Unfortunately, this
was based in England where Lord Greystoke has returned to
the family castle where they worked hard to acclimate him
to civilization and the Jungle was missing.
Now
comes 2016 and after waiting so long, here is Tarzan!
Cinemarcos calls this a sequel and I have to agree that it
is. This is Lord Greystoke, going back to Africa and
reconnecting with his jungle, his people, and fighting for
what is right. Alexander Skarsgård is my new favorite
Tarzan, he plays "gentle wildman" so well. I didn't even
recognize him at first. He was just Tarzan to me. Where
this story varies is with Jane, played by Margot Robbie,
but I will let you find out more about their love story
when you go see this film, and see it you must. Their
connection is animalistic but in a good way. I also am a
huge fan of Samuel Jackson, but feel that his part in this
film wasn't truly necessary. I have to mention a small
part, that of Chief Mbonga, played by Djimon Hounsou, a
true African. I'm sorry, I just like looking at him. But
seriously, he plays evil Chief well but there is a
compassionate heart in there. As my husband mentioned,
Christoph Waltz never disappoints. I keep saying that I
love to hate him and he confirms that even more in this
film. His is as cool as a cucumber all the while
orchestrating his evil plan. This movie obviously gets my
"Tarzan geek" stamp of approval.
Reviews
By Cine Marcos and Priscilla
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
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Director: David Yates
Writer: Adam Cozad
Craig Brewer
Genre: Action Adventure
Duration: 1hr 49 mins
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård Rory J. Saper Christian Stevens
Producer: David Barron
Tony Ludwig
Distributor: WARNER BROS
Rating:PG-13 for sequences of action
and violence, some sensuality and
brief rude dialogue
Release Date: July 1, 2016
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