(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

The Legend of Tarzan was visually beautifully created, but the story was too thin where at times the movie seemed boring!!!

Rating: 3 Stars

I have to say that I am not a fan of Tarzan. Yes I do know his story very well and why he is an iconic character, but I’m just not that into it. The only movie that I kind of liked was the Disney animated version of Tarzan. Other than that, his story is meh to me. With that said, seeing this new movie looked intriguing. With a great director, good cast, and cool visual effects. I had to give this movie a gander at the very least.

What I Like: Director David Yates really crafted a visually beautiful epic. The cinematography was on point, the CGI with the animals was awesome, and he really captures the beauties of Africa. Just the visual eye candy alone was worth watching this movie. I really enjoyed the action of seeing Tarzan, played by Alexander Skarsgard, swinging through the jungle, fighting with gorillas, and that one fight scene where he beats up all the soldiers in the train was action gold. Skarsgard looked the part of Tarzan at the very least, and the iconic howl, though very minimal we hear it, was very intimidating. Christoph Waltz played the villain of Captain Leon Rom who is a mercenary who would do whatever it takes to be wealthy. Even if it means luring Tarzan by kidnapping his wife, Jane played by Margot Robbie, and taking him to a death trap.He always seemed vulnerable as a person, but can hold it’s own. (Even though I find it weird that his rosary was a main weapon.) (Also, what is up with Waltz always playing villains?) Samuel L. Jackson played George Washington Williams, an American joining Tarzan to investigate what the countries are doing to the Congo region of Africa. Which ends up illegally selling slaves. Jackson’s character provided a lot of comic relief that really made me laugh out loud. (Though I don’t appreciate British directors making Americans somewhat stupid.) This movie had some clever moments that were witty and made it worthwhile.

The So So: One thing this Tarzan movie does structurally is showing the flashbacks of the origin story of Tarzan. It went with the TV Show Lost format of showing flashbacks which was cool at first, but at the end, it got me confused whether I was seeing a flashback or a current scene. That type of confusion was a lack of execution which made it a little sloppy in its structure.

What I Didn’t Like: The story was thin. It was a story after the known story of Tarzan where now he is married with Jane and living in London. He then goes back to his African home where he was raised, and goes on another adventure. It gives the whole damsel in distress with a hero to the rescue cliche. Especially at the beginning when they were developing the characters, it got really boring and almost lost my interest. It picks up, but it still had some slow and dull moments, especially the flashbacks. The subplot of Tarzan being an enemy to an African tribe was interesting at first, but rushed the conclusion into a sloppy end. Some plot holes is how did Jane free the African prisoner from his cage? During the final scene with the stampede of wildebeests, where did all the hundreds of wildebeests go once they reached the oceanside and created all that destruction? This movie did have their fair share of flaws.

Overall: The movie is beautifully crafted for your eyes pleasure, but if you’re looking for an epic Tarzan story, you will be disappointed. I hate seeing a well CGI’d movie go to waste, but unfortunately this film doesn’t get an exception and is bogged down to mediocrity!!!

Rating: 3 Stars