The Legend of Tarzan Trailer

I’m honestly not sure what to make of the trailer for Legend of Tarzan.  The fact that we’re getting a big budget Tarzan movie isn’t, in and of itself, surprising as it actually conforms to a lot of trends that are dominating the modern blockbuster scene.  What is shocking is that we’re getting this big budget Tarzan movie, produced in the strangest manner by some of the strangest people.  I’ll get more in depth on this as the article goes on but as it stands I have no idea why this movie is happening or what series of events might’ve conspired to force it into existence, it’s like this movie was conceived specifically to vex me. 

Firstly it’s an installment in the most mercurial quasi-genre for discussion of “adventure” film.  The thing about “adventure” as a genre is that it’s one of those curious cases where the term “genre” really doesn’t apply as well as one might expect.  Most of the time genre is used to denote key artifice and affect within a story; sci-fi is about space and robots, fantasy is about wizards and magic, western has cowboys etc.  When you get into adventure, that’s actually looking to define a film based on its intended goal rather than the coloring of its content much the same way genres like comedy, horror, and romance describe what the film is trying to make you feel rather than the strict visual and trope based content. 

If I say a film is a “horror movie” you know it’ll be trying to scare you but you’ve essentially no idea if it’ll be packed full of zombies, aliens, slashers or any other sundry murders row of monsters.  So, when I say Legend of Tarzan is an “adventure” film, it’s a movie that’s trying to whisk you away on a roller coast thrill ride but beyond that it’s actual content is pretty much an unknown.  However, this has left “adventure” as kind of a catch all genre and one that’s forced to hold up the brunt of other people’s genre titles, especially fantasy.

The fantasy connection is part of what’s so vexing about Legend of Tarzan in that it’s an adventure film but not a fantasy adventure when it feels like it really ought to be.  The fact that Tarzan exists as this work of seminal fiction that we all know as a kind of intrinsic fact predisposes it towards placement in the broad spectrum of quasi-fairy tales like Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, or Alice in Wonderland.  Add to that fact Disney has already made an animated Tarzan film and it starts to feel more and more like this really ought to be a Disney film.  Even without the fantasy connection, this kind of #0 blockbuster adventure reworking is what dominated Disney’s live action offerings for the last couple of years. 

Tarzan, as a property, has much more in common with The Lone Ranger or John Carter rather than Warner’s collection of quasi-adventure offerings like the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes films or their collection of Greco-Roman action flicks like Clash of the Titans and 300.  On the flip side all of WB’s fantasy offerings have been grounded in the cash cow franchises of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, which are about as far from the realms of fairy tale fantasy as one can get.  Even if we stretch all definitions and boundaries of genre and style Legend of Tarzan just doesn’t look or feel like a WB film.  WB blockbusters have become pretty ruthlessly oriented around either the vacuum sealed aesthetics of epic fantasy or a drab and stripped down action aesthetic that emphasizes the barest elements of source material blended with the coolest touchstones of the time. 

Legend of Tarzan doesn’t really conform to any of that, looking a lot more like a direct adaptation of the classic visuals filtered through a modern palette of colors and action beats and painted over in pulp stylistic affects.  In short, it looks like a movie by Legendary Studios, which actually makes a good deal of sense given that Legendary recently broke ranks with WB and I get the sense they aren’t exactly comfortable with that departure.  Given that Legacy is pumping full speed ahead towards a giant monster shared universe punctuated by a new King Kong vs. Godzilla movie it makes a certain amount of sense WB’s first attempt to ape that style (pun intended) would involve a monkey flick of their own.  I’m not necessarily sure it’ll work given how outside of WB’s wheelhouse this project looks and because we’re getting a Jungle Book movie next year that looks a lot better but it’s an impressive gambit at the least. 

As for the trailer itself I’m mixed on it.  The misty shrouded jungle is an interesting visual palette and I like the pulpy affectations but the main actor looks bland and those “jungle tribe” shots are more than a little eyebrow raising.  I’m not exactly sure the creators know what to do with the setting in terms of action sequences, especially given there’s only so many times to film “man fights gorilla” before the novelty wears off.  I like the emphasis on Christoph Waltz imperialist forces but Waltz himself looks like yet another woeful miscasting for this genuinely great actor, to be counted among the same ranks as Green Hornet, Three Musketeers, and Skyfall if we’re being honest.  Samuel L. Jackson also looks decidedly out of place, like he has no idea why he’s in this movie though it hardly seems to be getting in the way of his acting.  He and Waltz both tend to give 110% even if they’ve got no idea why they’re in the film.

Margot Robbie looks interesting as Jane but I get the sense the film doesn’t have much of an idea on what to do with her and the implication that Tarzan and Jane are known in England, suggesting this is some kind of “Tarzan comes out of retirement and learns to get his ape-man back on,” seems like the wrong approach to take with this material.  I also note that the setting of this film would place it alongside those Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films I mentioned, which Warner Bros were planning to turn into a shared universe of adventure heroes a while back.  So if this ended with Robert Downey Jr. popping up in Tarzan’s manner to launch League of Extraordinary Gentleman: The Next Generation I wouldn’t be surprised, just disappointed. 

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