The Legend of Tarzan

Cafe Society
1

There is lots to grumble about, but on the whole, I enjoyed it.

Alexander Skarsgård does a decent job as Tarzan. OK, his hair is the wrong color, but he’s not the first blonde actor to play the role.

The script interweaves bits of Burroughs mythos and bits of reality.

The main villain, Léon Rom was a real person. And he was actually much worse than the movie depicts. (The film is only PG-13, so they were not allowed to show some of Rom’s grislier misdeeds.)

Samuel Jackson’s character, George Washington Williams, was also a real person. His military background was just as colorful as Jackson describes. He really did travel to the Congo Free State, and he really did publish an exposé and condemnation of the abuses there. The movie neglects to mention that he was a Christian minister. I suppose that would have been problematic in the fight scenes, where Jackson emphatically does NOT turn the other cheek. :slight_smile:

The secondary villain is named Mbonga. He possesses diamonds, which may or may not have come from the city of Opar. He wears a leopard-skin garment, and fights with claws. Nice little nods to several different Burroughs novels.

One scene I found interesting was when Tarzan encounters a group of Mangani and fights with Akut, the leader.Burroughs would have had Tarzan beat Akut, and take over the tribe.
In the real world, we know that a human cannot possibly overpower a great ape.
So, in the movie, Tarzan fights hard enough to earn Akut’s respect, then surrenders.

My biggest complaint was the photography. The color palette was darker than I would have preferred. Is there something about the 3-D process that washes out the colors? I don’t remember the Iron Man movies being that drab. This is an action-adventure fantasy. The savannahs should be sun-kissed gold, and the jungles should be vivid green.

2

There is. The 3D process messes with the light levels that reach your eyes and tends to dull the colors.

3

In the scene where we first meet Jackson’s character, during the discussion he says something to the effect of, “Well, someone’s got to say it.”

Anyone besides me expect him to say, “What’s in YOUR wallet?”

4

As a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs since I was a kid, I really liked this movie a lot. I thought it captured the spirit of the books, while updating some aspects that needed updating. For example, I really liked how the Waziri (called the Kuba in the movie, for some reason) were superb trackers and fighters, comrades on an equal footing to Tarzan. I liked the incorporation of real-life characters and setting. I loved that they made the distinction between gorillas and mangani. (“Gorillas are gentle.”) Alexander Skarsgard nailed the brooding, sometimes dark nature of ERB’s Tarzan. I’ll probably see this a few more times in the theater.

5

“Waziri” is the name of a real-world tribe. The trouble is, they live in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

6

Interesting. Thanks. At least the chief of the Kuba was Muviro and his son was Wasimbu.

7

I missed that! Cool!

8

Haven’t seen it yet, big Burroughs fan, so probably will… but may have to wait for DVD since my wife won’t have any part of it.

9

My son and I saw it and enjoyed it well enough.

This is one movie I think would actually have benefited from an extra 1/2 hour or so. Much of the action seemed rushed and it could have used more character development. And more Samuel Jackson.

10

Underrated film. Enjoyed it immensely.

I liked how it wasn’t a full origin movie and it kicked off with Tarzan being civilized, publicly known, and an experienced hero.

Wish super hero movies would follow suit.

11

There was (and is) a lot of speculation that Rom was the model for Mr. Kurtz in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Similarities include a living hut surrounded by pikes with human heads on them. Rom was one of the worst of King Leopold’s mercenaries, all of which is likely included in the OP’s link, and also in the book King Leopold’s Ghost.

12

Legend of Tarzan makes me really want to read that book.

13

It’s interesting history about both the mercenary side and of the people who tried to expose the horrors that were taking place solely for Leopold’s personal gain.