Within the first twenty minutes of The Legend Of Tarzan, my thought’s could be summarised with the phrase ‘chop, chop.’ That’s British for ‘hurry up’, ‘move along’, ‘come on!’ etc. The pace was slow and I was eager for the fun jungle action to begin.

Things did eventually start to happen, though certainly not soon enough. The  scene when Tarzan faces off with the massive gorilla is my favourite, thanks to the action, camera work and Alexander Skarsgård’s convincing physicality. Overall though, the movie proved quite dull and with very little that delighted. The general structure of the story felt odd and I found myself wanting to see more of the young Tarzan’s experiences – because surely it was more interesting than what I was watching.

Some might say that maybe I should have opted for The Jungle Book (2015) if the story of a boy growing up in the Jungle sans parents is what I was really after – and to that I say, ‘touché’. Still, that doesn’t mean that what we have with director David Yate’s The Legend Of Tarzan is close to all that it could have been.

The film’s stars Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie and Christoph Waltz didn’t deliver terrible performances; it’s the execution of the story and final product that just wasn’t great.

For those who may be undecided about whether to bother with The Legend Of Tarzan, I say give it a chance to appreciate Skarsgård’s physical achievements (maybe), for some nice footage of Africa (perhaps) or for human / gorilla fight action (the best part). However, you probably have to go elsewhere for a truly satisfying retelling of writer Edgar Rice Burroughs’s classic story. Especially since the experience of this movie left myself and I’m sure many others wanting.

Happy Film Loving

G