Cinelinx: Is Making a Tarzan Movie Only For Tarzan Fans a Bad Idea?
From Cinelinx, by Rob Young (a longtime ERB fan)
David Yates’ The Legend of Tarzan does an effective job bringing the iconic King of the Jungle back to the big screen in a way that stays true to the classic books. With beautiful cinematography and a surprisingly strong lead performance by Alexander Skarsgard, The Legend of Tarzan delivers an entertaining adaptation of literature’s first super hero. However, will this film resonate with modern audiences who are unfamiliar with the character?
The character of Tarzan was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs over 100 years old (having debuted in All Stories Weekly magazine in 1912) and has been adapted over 100 times internationally, on film and TV. The majority of these projects have ranged from mediocre-to-poor, with only a few actual gems in the bunch. Only a small handful of them touched upon the spirit of the Burroughs books. It’s been a long time since there has been a live-action version of Tarzan on the screen and long-time fans (myself included) have been hoping that this latest attempt to reintroduce the Ape Man to modern viewers would be worth the wait. Is it? Well, that depends upon your expectations. If you’re a Tarzan fan, then the answer is “Yes”. If not…probably “No.”
Read the full post at Cinelinx.
4 comments
Rob makes an assumption here,that I’m not so sure is correct. He thinks the audience who will be able to appreciate LOT are long time fans of ERB. I spent a couple of hours yesterday reading all of the audience comments on RT and although some were from ERB fans,most were from people who ranged from those who were familiar with Tarzan from the Disney rendition theough the Weismuelker rendition including Greystoke. Some were just familiar with who Tarzan was and the basic story outline. They all enjoyed ot or loved it outright. I’m excluding those who had the one liners such as ” it ssucked” or ” worst movie I ever saw.” They were in the minority and gave no rational. One poster stated he had gone to the theater to see the Purge with his wife and when it was sold out,they chose LOT instead. Both he and his wife loved LOT although they had never intended on seeing it. What this tells me is that audiences don’t have to be previous ERB fans to really enjoy LOT and appreciate its value. They, unlike the critics,were capable of watching a different version of Tarzan than the one they were most familiar with and accepting it for what it was rather than insisting that it match their previous expectations. In comparison,the critics were like pouty children who had their favorite lollipop taken away.
I agree Maggie. I think it’s proven with the A- Cinemascore for the under 20’s. Can’t imagine that demographic falls into the hardcore Tarzan fan that Rob Young refers to. I think the writer has taken quite narrow view on who would like this film. Based on the audiences I’ve seen in the theaters the 2 times I’ve gone (going for a 3rd time tonight with different people) and the make-up of the twittersphere that are sharing their like/love for the movie, I think the appeal is much more broad….and that’s a beautiful thing.
Well, I am a Tarzan man all my life, I was very disappointed with the movie, I think a was a remake of one of the last movies of tarzan which is was great, I was expecting something more from the beginning, like the life in the jungle and his interactions with animal and tribu, there was very little of that,
I can see with expectations like this,how you must have been disappointed. With the type of trailers they do today ,which mainly highlight marketing points,it’s difficult to tell what any given movie is about. That’s why it’s a good idea to read the brief summaries of a movie that they put out on IMBD. That summary made it clear that this was not an origin story but rather one in which we pick Tarzan up after he has been living as Lord of Greystoke in England for 8 years. Having known that in advance you may have decided not to to see it at all or to give it a chance. Either way you would have gone into it more aware of what it was about and ,perhaps ,ended up less disappointed when your expectations weren’t met. Sorry you didn’t like it. I was very entertained by it and particularly impressed with this take on Tarzan but I have been following this film since it was first announced and knew pretty well what to expect. I also loved the cinematography and felt totally immersed in the world of the jungle.