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Since his first appearance in 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs’s beloved jungle man Tarzan has been the subject of multitudes of books and movies and TV series. For the latest incarnation, The Legend of Tarzan, Harry Potter director David Yates takes a look at the story after Tarzan leaves—and returns to—the jungle.
The Legend of Tarzan begins eight years after the man now known as John Clayton III (Alexander Skarsgård) settled in London with his wife, Jane (Margot Robbie). When King Leopold of Belgium invites him to return to the Congo, he reluctantly agrees—but only at the insistence of American Dr. George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson), who fears that Belgium is using the natives as slave labor to build railroads. But once the Claytons return home, they soon find that they’re part of a plot to help Belgian liaison Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) amass riches and build an army of mercenaries.
This latest Tarzan movie offers a different perspective, taking a look at a man who’s called two very different jungles his home: one controlled by wild animals with a very rigid set of rules and one controlled by civilized men who are rarely what they claim to be. And that makes for an intriguing setup.
Admittedly, though, the story isn’t especially interesting. It’s rather straightforward and entirely predictable. Even Christoph Waltz’s character is predictable—though he’s always entertaining as the gleefully evil villain. And while Jackson’s Dr. Williams is a comical character, he seems completely out of place in the film—and his over-the-top reactions to each new encounter take away from his intriguing history.
The most fascinating parts of the film, then, are the stories that play out in the background—the relationships between men, between animals, and between man and beast. Each kind of animal has its own personality, its own language, its own customs. The tribes have their own specific customs, too. And as John makes his way through the jungle that he once called home, he respects each one and interacts with them differently. There are other issues at play here, too—issues of race and inequality and war and colonialism, which are all more interesting than the race through the jungle to stop a boilerplate villain.
The film certainly isn’t without its flaws. But, fortunately, there are plenty of other things here to enjoy—from its exotic settings to its striking action sequences to its new look at a familiar story.
The Legend of Tarzan isn’t the typical summer blockbuster—with superheroes or alien invasions. It’s a more toned-down period adventure with some interesting historical touches. And while it may not be as wild and thrilling as some other summer action movies, its differences make it an action-packed alternative to the same old superhero flick.
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