The Legend of Tarzan

If I had to give a guess as to which film franchise was the largest, I would have to say the 'Tarzan" franchise. When looking up the list of different films, the list was endless. Suffice it to say between the different ones (both live and animated) all the way back to 1932's "Tarzan, the Ape Man" which put Johnny Weismuller on the map, we have yet another one to add to that never ending list, "The Legend of Tarzan".

It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Margot Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo via through American Dr. George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) to serve as emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.

Others to round out the cast are Djimon Hounsou as Chief Mbonga, Casper Crump as Major Kerckhover, Rory J. Saper as Young Tarzan (18 years), Antony Acheampong as Kanam, Jim Broadbent as Prime Minister and Clive Brunt as Senior Officer.

This was eloquently though brutally directed by David Yates ("The Young Visiters" (TV movie) '03, "Sex Traffic" (TV movie) '04, "The Girl in the Café" (TV movie) '05, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" '07, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" '09, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 1" '10, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2" '11) plus shorts and TV. Considering his resume, this filmmaker definitely is in his comfort zone with this film. The feel of the era-- the 1880's along with the right photography by Henry Graham, bsc which gives it that antiquated, almost unearthly feel leans the correct character development. This is the mark of a fine director-- the ability to delineate the feel of a project in explicit detail. It was creatively written by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer based on a story by Brewer and Cozad which is based on the "Tarzan" stories created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. What truly makes this incarnation of the "Tarzan" franchise is that of the fact that we already have Tarzan civilized at the beginning and he goes back to his roots to help, instead of the other way around as in the other films. The storyline was cohesive, tight, well thought out, and kept the audience's attention throughout. In my book, these are all the ingredients of a well executed film. Does this screenplay have any promise of being nominated come Oscar time? Probably not, but I feel this is not the reason this was developed into a film. But rather, to give us a different spin on that Burroughs story we've all come to know and love. The cast was certainly credible specifically Skarsgard's Tarzan and Waltz's Leon Rom as the baddie.

I'm not a huge Tarzan fan normally, however, of all the Tarzan films I've seen, this definitely is the best rendition I've seen to date. The grandiose of production-- photography, visual effects and the bigger-than-life appeal will capture you and pull you in, and all in a nifty 3D format as well.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                   Rated: PG-13                                  109mins.