The Legend of Tarzan

Plot synopsis:
In the late 1800's, a conference was held to divide up the African Congo region. King Leopold of Belgium seized control of the land's minerals, which resulted in large profits for his country. When the resources began to run dry, Leopold sent Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) to secure more minerals.Rom leads a large group of men into the Congo where they find a large rock formation that looks like a face. In the fog, the men hear a sound. A spear is thrown and hits the ground. Rom's men open fire, killing dozens of African tribesmen. Other members of the tribe stand above the rocks and retaliate by killing all of Rom's men. Rom is approached by the leader, Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou). In his hand are three little mineral rocks. Mbonga says he can give Rom all the minerals if he brings him one particular man. Rom agrees and says he only needs a name.In England, the Prime Minister (Jim Broadbent) speaks to John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke (Alexander Skarsgard), who is invited by King Leopold to head an expedition to Boma. George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) urges John to go, as he is really Tarzan, the famed ape man that lived in the jungle and was raised by apes and has now returned to civilization to claim his place as the last surviving Greystroke family member of the Greystroke estate. John declines the invitation, to the dismay of George and the PM. George follows John outside and tries to persuade John to consider otherwise, and to let him join. John changes his mind and agrees.We see a flashback of decades earlier when John's father had kept himself and his wife Alice in a treehouse as she gave birth. Alice died, and John II buried her. Moments later, John II was attacked and killed by a band of gorillas. In the treehouse, an ape named Kala (Madeleine Worrall) and her son Akut (Matt Cross) find the baby John. Kala adopted him as her own.In the present, John finds his wife Jane (Margot Robbie) conducting a lesson to a group of children. John makes a bird sound, which excites the children as they know he is Tarzan. Later, John tells Jane about the expedition trip. She thinks he is asking her to come, but he tells her she cannot. He worries for her since they have already lost a baby. She leaves disappointed, but he later finds her up in a tree and says she may join.John, Jane, and George take their trip to the Congo. John sees three lions that he knew since they were cubs, and they greet each other (as lions would). The three then encounter a friendly tribe that knew John and Jane during their stay in the jungle. At night, the tribe sings a song that Jane says is "The Legend of Tarzan". As she describes it to George, we see Tarzan as a child trying to live among the apes. The ape leader Kerchak (William Wollen) beat up the boy until Kala intervened.Rom and his men take another ship toward the location where he knows he will find John. They attack the tribe's camp and tie up John and Jane. Rom also shoots the tribe's leader in front of everyone. He captures Jane and several tribe members while John rolls away down a hill. George and the remaining tribe members chase after the villains, but they get away. George finds John and unties him.John sets out to find Jane and the tribe members. George thinks it's a bad idea, but he still follows John, along with seven other members. It is time for him to become Tarzan once again.We see another flashback from the past when Jane first went to the jungle and met Tarzan. At that time, he did not speak or understand a word of English and he began to sniff her. When he started to sniff in certain areas, she pushed him off and scared him away.In the present day Congo, Tarzan and George swing from vines onto the train carrying the tribe members. Tarzan finds a train car full of men that want to kill him. He quickly kicks all their asses. The biggest men enters the car, but Tarzan kicks him out the train in seconds. The tribe members are freed.Rom plans to use the tribe members as slaves in his expedition. On the boat, he has one member and very good friend of Tarzan and Jane, Wasimbu, caged over the water. Jane yells something to Wasimbu in his language, making Rom drop the cage into the water. Jane jumps in and breaks Wasimbu out. They swim to the shore and avoid gunfire and a hungry hungry hippo.Tarzan and George separate from the members so that Rom and his men don't try to kill them. The two encounter Akut, now grown. Tarzan knows he has to fight Akut because he will consider Tarzan a deserter for leaving the jungle. The two fight each other, but Akut overpowers Tarzan. George kneels and bows before Akut so that neither of them get killed.Another flashback shows the reason why Mbonga wants Tarzan. His only son Kulonga (Charles Babalola) killed Kala with an arrow. Tarzan retaliated and killed Kulonga. As he held a dying Kala in his arms, Mbonga's people brought Kulonga's body back to his father.In the present, Tarzan and George find Rom and his men bringing a recaptured Jane toward Mbonga's tribe. The tribesmen attack Tarzan, but he fights them off with ease. Mbonga faces Tarzan and fights him. Tarzan overpowers him and holds his knife to Mbonga's throat. He decides not to kill Mbonga because he wants to help his tribe, knowing that Rom would just kill them all to get what he wants.Rom and his men prepare to ride off on their boat to meet with other miners and explorers. Their camp is trashed by a stampede of wildebeest. Tarzan rides one toward the boat. Jane makes it to safety while Tarzan hops on the boat. He increases the pressure on the boat's engine. Rom chokes him out with his rosary beads. Tarzan calls upon some crocodiles to come toward the boat. He grabs Rom with his legs and holds him as he breaks the beads with his neck muscles. Tarzan releases Rom and lets the crocs eat him. The boat then explodes, destroying the minerals. Tarzan appears behind Jane and kisses her.George returns home and exposes Leopold's dealings to the rest of the world. Tarzan and Jane stay in the jungle as they welcome their first child.The film closes with Tarzan swinging through the trees with his ape family.

Tags: comedy, murder, violence, historical fiction, good versus evil, flashback, humor, action, revenge

Review:
After a great opening scene, there is the filmic equivalent of "dead air" for about 35 minutes and when the script does finally get in gear it stumbles and falls, subject to a wildly disjointed narrative and equally bizarre editing.Alexander Skarsgård has been impressive in other films (a race driver, a superhero) and I think with different material and a different director he could have connected.
If you want to see a painfully unoriginal and unengaging story of paint-by-number characters getting at it in the green room for 90% of the time, go see this movie.The most deplorable thing about this movie - aside from the plot being an incoherent mess - is the way the villains are portrayed as caricatures, and the good guys as saints who can do no wrong.
Honestly when I first heard about the film I had little interest in seeing it, but the trailer was better than I expected, and when has Christoph Waltz been anything short of terrific in every role he has played, but particularly when he is a bad guy.
If what you want is a live-action version of the Disney cartoon, or a remake of those old "Me Tarzan, you Jane" camp fests, this isn't the film for you.
It's disheartening, and it's so obvious they don't really know anything about the character and don't care enough to learn.If, however, you have yearned for the day in cinema when Edgar Rice Burroughs' epic hero is treated with the gravitas and respect he deserves, and if you enjoy epic jungle adventure with a heart, by all means GO SEE THIS MOVIE!
Alexander Skarsgard's Tarzan erupts instantly and spectacularly with a combination of physical force and gut-chilling animal sounds and pins the American to a wall, then growls out the words: "They have my wife, and their families." In this single small moment, Yates and Skarsgard put on display Tarzan's utter commitment to the woman he loves while at the same time same evoking the internal contradiction of a man who in adulthood could pass among society as a aristocratic Englishman, but whose feral upbringing has left him with a volatile beast within that can overwhelm the civilized trappings in an instant.
Edgar Rice Burroughs would approve of it, and 21st century audiences will, if they can be lured into theaters to see it, be intrigued and satisfied by it.Legend of Tarzan begins eight years after Tarzan and Jane (a luminous and effective Margot Robbie) have left Africa to undertake a gentrified life in London, where Tarzan has claimed his birthright of John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke.
It still tells us his origin in laziest way possible and it still follows a three act structure that we have seen a couple thousand times over.As I blankly starred at the jumbled mess I was watching on screen I couldn't think of a single thing I hated, nor a single thing I loved.
Upon his return to his childhood home in the Congo, Greystoke (a.k.a. Tarzan) discovers man's cruelty in the form of Belgian huntsman, Leon Rom (a typecast Christoph Waltz, playing, what else, but the villain).
The panoramic vistas help to give the film a sense of epic adventure, even if the adventures we witness never attain the grandeur of other epic film tales due to its script.The narrative structure swings from its more interesting backstories (Tarzan's early life and upbringing, his adaptation to his aristocratic England, Jane's personal journey) which are only hinted, to the standard main story dealing with The Great White Hunter's poaching of ivory, diamonds, and the slave trade...granted all important subjects, but the treatment is painted in the most black and white terms with the widest of brushstrokes.
The love Tarzan feels for his ape mother is passed on to the movie viewer to be felt, not just seen.The panoramic views of the jungle are even as ERB described them to be.
And FINALLY a film worthy of the original character of Tarzan from Edgar Rice Burroughs' original novels, with all his power, fearlessness, and without hesitation toward action against insurmountable challenges.See this film expecting to see a fitting representation of real heroism driven by love, dedication, and absolute resolve.
Maybe the trailers for this film big'd it up too much , but 10 min's in I had to check that I am watching the right movie and not some spoof , or maybe a TV low budget Tarzan with cheep effects cheep actors and even cheep'er writers ...
The flash backs are random and pointless, there's no real set up or relationship with any of the characters, the story line predictable Samuel Jackson thought it was a comedy Tarzan and Jane thought it was the next transformers.
The iconic character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912 is brought back to the silver screen in this epic drama, skillfully mixing both traditional and new cinematic techniques.Both wild and romantic at the same time, it tells a struggle for life and freedom, for dignity and liberty.Last but not least, it is not often that we are offered such an accurate portrayal of the ravages of imperialism and colonialism conducted by the Western power elites on the African continent in the XIXth century.A movie with a Heart and a Soul.
Although Robbie is very good as Jane, she doesn't get a whole lot to do as she's tied up by the villainous Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) for half the film.
I think that's the best way to describe most of the film, average.I appreciate the filmmakers approach in taking the Tarzan story in a different direction in having it be about his return home and to his animalistic ways.
The movie was not packed, about a 1/3 full, probably expected for an early screening, mostly older people, but some teenagers and some smaller children as well.The movie, all though not perfect was about as close as I could have hoped for in portraying this character, and instilling the sense of wonder and excitement on the big screen, that we all sensed growing up reading the novels and the comics.Yeah, some liberties were taken, some settings and time frames are not exactly as Burroughs wrote them, but that is expected somewhat in a movie that needs to appeal to a broader audience.
The main thing, the most important thing, is it was obvious the Director, Producers writers and actors all were familiar with the ERB works enough to want to get this right, in respect to ERB, and all the fans who yearn for a really good Tarzan movie!
The movie does not start out quickly as far as action, and that is OK, because we are learning about the relationship between Tarzan and Jane, and why they are living in London, and not their birthplace Africa.
Burroughs understood the need for romance to play a large part in his novels, and that is an aspect of this film that will be appreciated, and hopefully draw in a larger audience.One of the most touching, and tender moments, is Lord Greystoke and Jane, in their quite moment in a tree on their London estate, just prior to returning to Africa.Tarzan, is played almost perfectly by Skarsgard, quiet, reserved, intelligent, fierce, majestic, yet slightly vulnerable in his affection and devotion to his mate.
The scene in the coach, just after John is swayed by Williams to return, where John "chuffs" in anger upon hearing what is happening in his beloved Africa, was subtle, but moving.Christopher Waltz, as Rom played the perfect bad guy (as usual) his relatively small physical presence belied a well honed dangerous ability with his small makeshift lasso, which he used to good effect.We see in this film a gradual return to the greatness, the strength and prowess that we expect from Tarzan.
Moreover, the level of violence is simply too much for small children to watch.Here is the bottom line: This is not a good family movie, but rather an action one with plenty of special effects that many will still enjoy..
The book was a Penny Dreadful that was fun as heck, silly as all get out, and pretty skewed from reality (Tarzan teaches himself to read from a book he found in his dead parents tree house and he can do that because he's of Nobel birth) LOLThis new version of Tarzan not only tries to make it as realistic as it can be in the circumstances (it is a super hero jungle guy), it also incorporates history of the time (turn of the 19th Century) by having the villains be the Belgians in the Congo.
The Legend of Tarzan takes the legend and makes it a better story.The stars of the movie are all fantastic in their roles.
Christoph Waltz was very villainy and believable.Thank you to all the people who made this movie, for thinking we needed yet another Tarzan.
In short, the one - star review is basically for the appearance of Margot Robbie's face, even if she is billed FIFTH on IMDb behind five male actors, three of whom are playing the same character.As for the film itself, Christoph Waltz is in it .
. and Sam Jackson's in it cause it's a movie.Djimon Hounsou does an admirable job, acting as if his role isn't completely beneath him and for a film that seems to admire the environment so much, the fact that there are no real animals in it, being worn as some kind of badge of honor in the p.r drive, speaks volumes about the overall quality of the production.I could arguably give the film two stars because of Sam Jackson's presence but that's just not enough to qualify this plot less, pointless, piece of boring nonsense as anything other than a complete waste of billions of dollars and anybody's viewing time.So obviously expect the sequel sometime in the next .
More importantly, The Legend of Tarzan is a terrific, engaging story, with great characters and pacing and plenty of action, but not so much that it seems like overkill.
Yates and company have done a superb job of crafting a good old-fashioned adventure, retaining the look and feel of the Africa of a century ago, and combining it with a plot and theme that is relevant today, aided greatly by the addition of real life character George Washington Williams.
As others have mentioned, the way they are filmed leaves a bit to be desired.This is the best Tarzan movie ever, and it is hard to see how anyone could do a better one.
If you are a Tarzan fan, an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, or just love a great adventure movie, this is for you..
"The Legend of Tarzan" effectively updates a classic character, puts him in a compelling historical context and gives us a fresh story with quality acting and visuals..
There's a distinctly modern sensibility to the script (and you won't finish this movie with a very positive impression of western governments of the late 19th century), but Brewer and Kozad remain true to the spirit of the original character and incorporate aspects of a couple different Tarzan books along the way.
Waltz has carved out a nice Hollywood career playing immoral or morally ambiguous characters and gives us another great one here – perhaps his most despicable yet."The Legend of Tarzan" effectively updates a classic character, puts him in a compelling historical context and establishes who he is while giving us a fresh story with quality acting and visuals.
In The Legend of Tarzan, Alexander Skarsgård plays the character much like I imagined him when I read the books.
They were each good, but every time they appeared on the screen, I never really saw the characters they were playing, I saw the actors.Overall, I liked the movie.
It tells the origin of Tarzan, a boy lost in the jungle and raised by apes to become a ghost like figure, but this film more focus on the life after Tarzan left the jungle and joined civilization were his legend became the stories that Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote about.Samuel L Jackson plays a doctor who needs Tarzan's help when Tarzan gets an invitation to come back to the Congo, the doctor needs to come with him to find out if slavery is being practice there, but it turns out the invitation was a trap laid out by the the villain, Rom, played by the brilliant Christoph Waltz in his element, to deliver Tarzan to an old enemy, also played brilliantly Djimon Hounsou.Jackson's role in this keeps it from being some white dude who saves Africa from other white dudes.
At first it seem they tried too hard to to make Jane not just the chick Tarzan saved, but as the movie went on and her character developed , she went on a small adventure herself that was as exciting as Tarzan.It's an action packed adventure through the Congo.
In this movie featuring real people playing the roles everything that could've gone wrong did, we almost walked out as it was so bad.The Legend of Tarzan (2016) was the let down of films this year and had so much potential; though not one part of it was attempted to make it an entertaining film; it was more like paying to be laughed at for spending the money.
Margot Robbie is the new Jane, an attempt for more spunky and powerful female, but she's trapped in usual pretty damsel in distress role, which ironically the movie points out hoping for the opposite effect.Samuel L.
Saddled once again with a clichéd and incredibly one-dimensional noble savage character, with a back-story every bit as simplistic and predictable, Djimon Hounsou tries but lacks the dignity and passion needed, it can be one-note at times.Although it has been said that 'The Legend of Tarzan' looks great, not everything in the visual department comes over completely successfully.
The special effects are variable, most are fantastic like the elephants and the gorillas (different to the gorillas one usually is acquainted with but fits the descriptions of the gorilla species from the source material), some like the lions are mostly well-rendered but are hindered by rushed editing and tighter budget constraints seemingly in busier scenes and others like the ostrich, the buffalos and to a lesser extent the crocodiles are so fake-looking and lack the finesse shown elsewhere that it took me out of the film.Scripting was a huge issue here (Jane getting a lot of the worst of it), aside from the story it was the asset that most brought 'The Legend of Tarzan' down.
It's a reasonable shorthand, depicting the Belgian colonisers as evil and the Africans as noble, and if the film was outrageous fun I would have revelled in such a split, but it isn't and the archetypes bore, the simplistic presentation of Dick Dastardlies (chiefly Christoph Waltz) vs brave warriors (Djimon Hounsou & co) or loving families leaving me wanting for human complication and wondering if this treatment wasn't, you know, a bit racist?
Waltz was a classy good villain ( his rosary pseudo presence was cheap and the supposed to be funny mention of him and his priest relationship, wasn't "no one in the full packed IMAX movie theater laughed") Well, the only positive thing was that my wife liked the romantic connection between Tarzan and Jane.
In short: I would prefer ANY Tarzan movie with Johnny Weissmuller over this flick, the only interesting character plays Christoph Waltz again, but compared to his great roles like in Inglorious Basterds and The Hateful Eight or Unchained even he looks a little "too professional done".
It never managed to feel necessary, it's the first Tarzan movie in years and yet there is nothing that tells us "this is why we needed another Tarzan" there is nothing special about it, nothing you would not see in any other film with this character.As well as that, the CGI is everywhere, making it come across as lazy, the production felt rushed, they should have taken the time to find real landscapes, develop real sets and hire real animals, this would have given the movie a more authentic feel, it clearly relied far too much on green screen and special effects, which did not help in making it any bit more compelling.
So I am going to start this review off by saying I clearly do not remember the Disney animated movie, if I even did see it, because The Legend of Tarzan was not at all what I was expecting.
The plot was so unengaging, and could not decide was it was about, I cared so very Little about what was going on.Riddled with Flashbacks that don't contribute to the story or the characters, the characters will tell you Everything anyway, and i wish they would not, at least I laughed out loud a few times over how bad the dialogue was.And the CGI, don't get me started, was I watching an old Tarzan TV-series from the nighties?
Yes, the plot is not overly original but the film is not being driven by the plot as much as it is the characters and the gradual discovery of who Alexander Skarsgard's Tarzan and Margot Robbie's Jane really are.
This Tarzan movie has better action, drama and humour, it has a good story-line.
I believe that this movie does a good job of keeping the character, & the legend of Tarzan fresh.In this tale of Tarzan, we don't get the wild man version at first.
Count on Christoph Waltz's Leon Rom to mess things up for them and everyone else.Alexander Skarsgård and Margot Robbie are well-cast in their respective roles as Tarzan and Jane.
Thankfully, he's not as abrasive as he's been in some other movies, though the film almost feels like it's more about Tarzan and George than Tarzan and Jane.