Monday, July 25, 2016

293. The Legend Of Tarzan; movie review

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN
Cert 12A
110 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate action violence, threat, injury detail

I have to say that we painted the town a little redder than we intended in Hamburg and so we were a bit jaded when we arrived in Odense in Denmark - the latest leg on our mini European tour.
Therefore, we plumped for a nice meal and a walk to the Biocity complex for David Yates' The Legend Of Tarzan.
We wondered, as the cashier discussed our seating requirements in perfect English, just how many of his counterparts in the UK could have responded in Danish.
And then we took our places in front of rows of teenagers and feared the worst.
In England, there is no doubt that the demographic of this screening would have meant chatting, giggling and loud popcorn guzzling.
Not so, at Biocity. The audience were quiet as mice until Samuel L. Jackson cracked one of his many funnies and then they burst out laughing.
In other words, they respected the film and the rest of the audience and helped our enjoyment of another movie of which I had been apprehensive.
But I am pleased to report that, as with Ghostbusters a few days before, Mrs W and I were very pleasantly surprised by the retelling of an old story.
If I remember the 1984 movie Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan correctly, this picture takes up where it left off, with Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård) now acclimatised to life in London society.
However, he is lured back to the jungle by a missive from King Leopold of Belgium who wants to show off his developments in the Congo.
Actually, this is a ruse by the king's representative (Christoph Waltz) who has promised a tribal chief to bring him his sworn foe (Tarzan) in return for access to a rich seam of diamonds.
Against his better judgment, Tarzan returns with a comic American sidekick (Jackson) and his beautiful and feisty wife, Jane (Margot Robbie).
And within a minute, Skarsgård's shirt is off, revealing admirable muscle tone and Tarzan is swinging through the trees and talking to the animals like Doctor Doolittle.
It takes a little while before the familiar "Taaaaa.aaah...ahh" shout but once we hear it we know that good guys will prevail.
I heard an interview with the erudite Waltz a couple of weeks back and he justified yet another retelling of Tarzan by saying the story had been updated and he is right.
Johnny Weismuller, Ron Ely and even Christopher Lambert would not pass the test of 2016 but both Mrs W and I agreed that this version worked... for now.

Reasons to watch: its action - and SLJ's comic foil
Reasons to avoid: might be too cheesy for some

Laughs: three
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8.5/10


Star tweet
Well this life long Tarzan fan loved LEGEND OF TARZAN! Script by did not disappoint

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