I Watch Films: The Legend of Tarzan
This 2016 film was new to me in 2018.
The Legend of Tarzan starts in the middle of Tarzan's career (though set further back in time than the original novels). Tarzan is Lord Greystoke in London and has no interest in going back to Africa but is convinced to by Samuel L Jackson. Inevitably we get flashbacks of his origin story and (sigh) those are important to the plot, especially the relationship between him and his ape-brother and between him and the king of the Lost City of Opar.
The film tries to uneasily mix Tarzan as superhero with the Belgian colonial genocide of the Congo. The special effects are marvellous. The anti-colonial storyline is a little clumsy, though knowing a little of the history of the Congo if anything they tone down the villainy of the antagonists. Tarzan unleashes African animals and people to defeat the bad guys, using the distraction to rescue his wife; nevertheless there's a certain amount of white-saviouring going on which does not sit too easily.
Watch This: I guess if you like some Tarzan?
Don't Watch This: If none of this sounds of any interest.
Oh, also: Here are some previous things I wrote about Edgar Rice Burroughs' fiction
The Legend of Tarzan starts in the middle of Tarzan's career (though set further back in time than the original novels). Tarzan is Lord Greystoke in London and has no interest in going back to Africa but is convinced to by Samuel L Jackson. Inevitably we get flashbacks of his origin story and (sigh) those are important to the plot, especially the relationship between him and his ape-brother and between him and the king of the Lost City of Opar.
The film tries to uneasily mix Tarzan as superhero with the Belgian colonial genocide of the Congo. The special effects are marvellous. The anti-colonial storyline is a little clumsy, though knowing a little of the history of the Congo if anything they tone down the villainy of the antagonists. Tarzan unleashes African animals and people to defeat the bad guys, using the distraction to rescue his wife; nevertheless there's a certain amount of white-saviouring going on which does not sit too easily.
Watch This: I guess if you like some Tarzan?
Don't Watch This: If none of this sounds of any interest.
Oh, also: Here are some previous things I wrote about Edgar Rice Burroughs' fiction
Comments