The Legend of Tarzan

RATING: C-

The Legend of Tarzan picked a pretty bad year to come out. It's already the kind of tale that doesn't seem to hold as much sway as it once did (even though there are still fans of the Disney film). But it also didn't help matters that a well-received Jungle Book remake came out this year as well, and apparently people didn't need more tales of guys who grow up in the jungle and become friends with the animals. There certainly wasn't a whole lot of anticipation leading up to this movie. 

This particular Tarzan film decides to take a bit of a "Hook (1991)" approach to the Tarzan story by having the character Tarzan (aka John Clayton III) no longer living in the wild; and he is asked to survey a development of the Congo area where he came from, which is now being overseen by some king from Belgium. 

Along with John Clayton comes his wife Jane, and Samuel L. Jackson--excuse me, I mean George Washington Williams. However, it ends up being a trap planned out by a Belgian representative named Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) who has nothing but bad intentions for Congo and the various tribes within. Which means Tarzan has to return to the jungle and get his old buddies together to take down the villain from Spectre and restore peace with Samuel L. Jackson's help. No big deal, right? 

This kind of feels like one of those movies that had a troubled production and the final product was affected because of it. It's pretty messy throughout, and the first half is really boring as a lot of nothing happens--besides some poor uses of flashbacks. The second half gets better with some good action and fighting scenes, but that still leaves a plot that is generic at best, but sloppy is more accurate. The characters are honestly pretty boring. It is difficult to get invested in the character of Tarzan as Alexander Skarsgard doesn't bring much to the table on the acting front. Leon Rom is also an incredibly flat villain. 

It's not completely bad. Unlike most of the other flat actors, Samuel L. Jackson actually does really well in his role and provides some well-needed comic relief--and it actually works. There's some good fight scenes too--the highlight being when Tarzan boards a train and singlehandedly takes out an entire room of soldiers. 

The Legend of Tarzan isn't one of the worst action films you'll see, but it's definitely not a successful attempt to bring back the character. Even if it gets better later in the second half, the first half is just so sloppy and horribly paced that much of it becomes an afterthought otherwise, especially since the second half is still flawed even so. It's not a straight-up horrible film, but Legend of Tarzan is definitely one of the more forgettable action flicks of 2016.