A movie that is naggingly unsatisfying. It has a lot of good elements that never quite gel into a really worthwhile whole, despite coming close…
What Works: So just what is missing in this Tarzan? You’ve got Alexander Skarsgard as Tarzan, Margo Robbie as Jane, Christoph Waltz as your generic villain, Samuel L. Jackson as the lovable sidekick, a socially conscious plot, and it’s not a repetitive origin story (surprisingly) but one set years after the events we usually see in Tarzan movies. Yet for all that, there’s only really a couple sequences—like the terrific, otherworldly beginning ambush or one where Tarzan “says hello” to a pack of lions—that capture anything close to excitement or a feeling of the unknown. There’s nothing “wrong” with this movie, and it’s actually pretty good, but it just feels to be missing that one essential quality…
What Doesn’t: …It knows the words, but not the rhythm. It never quite gets that aura of mystery that the recent Jungle Book remake did. That was a movie that knew how to tap into the mythos of its source material and capture a feeling of wonder. This “Tarzan” can feel somewhat joyless in its telling, and Skarsgard’s take on Tarzan is just a little bit bland.
What I Would Have Done Differently: That whole Steampunk/Jules Verne/into-the-unknown/hot-air-balloon sense of wonder is just not there, and a Tarzan movie without it just doesn’t work. Otherwise, it’s as close to a good movie as you can get without having the soul of one.
Great review.