I was looking forward to this movie because after I read the first three Tarzan novels I was excited to see how this film would look. I was also intrigued by the casting of Alexander Skarsgard as Tarzan after watching him play a vampire on the show True Blood. I was even pleased that he didn't opt to change his hair color to be Tarzan.
This film has touches of the second and third Tarzan novels but the writers took some liberties for this film. When the film opens, a man named Leon Rom (played by Christoph Waltz) is looking for diamonds to finance King Leopold of Belgium's efforts at "civilising" his portion of Africa. To get the diamonds, Rom makes a deal with a local chief named Mbonga (played by Djimon Hounsou) who will allow Rom to have the diamonds if he brings Tarzan to Mbonga.
Meanwhile, Tarzan has been living and adapting to life in England with his beloved wife Jane (played by Margot Robbie). Through flashbacks, the audience is reminded of Tarzan's origins (the liberties that were taken work for this picture). Tarzan is asked to visit Africa by royal invitation from King Leopold of Belgium. After he initially refuses, an American named George Washington Williams (played by Samuel L. Jackson) convinces a reluctant Tarzan to go to Africa with him to help him find out if there is truth to suspicion that Leopold is using slavery to build the infrastructure of his African colony.
It turns out that Tarzan is reluctant because he is still acclimating to life in England and his responsibilities as Earl of Greystoke and he is concerned about his wife Jane because she has recently had a miscarriage. Jane is thrilled when Tarzan tells her of the expedition to Africa because she seems to consider Africa her home more than England. Tarzan is not keen to bring Jane along due to the dangers and her needing to heal but Jane insists so he brings her along.
Shortly after arriving in the village that Jane "grew up in" and where Tarzan has also been basically adopted by the villagers, the village is attacked by Rom's men and during the attack Jane is taken along with some of the men of the village. Tarzan leads a group of some of the remaining men in the village with George to go on a rescue mission. Along the way Tarzan also reconnects with the apes that he grew up with.
The film was more true to the original novels than I anticipated. The liberties that were taken do matter but at the same time the writers did a decent job making the story their own. The acting was very good. The story was good with the liberties taken. Visually the film was good although I confess that I had mixed emotions about the fact that it was all filmed on a sound stage. On the one hand, I understand that, for the most part, it isn't possible to make this film "in real life". On the other hand, it would have been nice to see some "real life" exterior shots.
I have heard some criticism that there was no depth to the acting. I disagree because, after reading the novels, I felt that the actors did a great job bringing these beloved, distinctive characters to life while adding their own respective personal touches to the characters. Despite my fondness for Samuel L. Jackson and most of his characters that he has played I didn't like his character George in this picture. He was obviously the comic relief/voice of reason rolled into one and it didn't feel "natural".
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