In the movie, he zips from vine to vine like Spider-Man web-slinging his way through Manhattan, and he clashes with fearsome gorillas in bone-crushing, mano-a-mano battles that wouldnвЂ™t feel out of place in a Superman film. (The film is also hamstrung by a tortuously complicated past-and-present structure in which TarzanвЂ™s journey to rescue Jane is often juxtaposed with dreary flashbacks that establish how Tarzan came to be adopted by apes, fell in love with Jane and first crossed paths with Mbonga.)ДЄlong the way, Tarzan tries to sell its protagonist as a superhero with incredible strength and superior survival skills. The actor conveys the characterвЂ™s quiet, feral core - the smouldering, untamed part of him that hasnвЂ™t been domesticated by leaving for London - but he canвЂ™t elevate a bland script which only sees Tarzan in noble-savage clichГ©s. SkarsgГҐrd has been a brooding presence in films such as The Diary Of A Teenage Girl and on televisionвЂ™s True Blood, but as Tarzan heвЂ™s forced to play a gritty hero, one who mistakes a dour expression for dramatic complexity. In Tarzan, crocodiles menace the rivers, elephants roam the land and gazelles scurry to and fro - but for a film packed with wildlife, thereвЂ™s very little sign of actual life in the frame.

No matter how meticulous the CG is rendered, thereвЂ™s simply so much of it in every scene that it quickly distances the viewer from what they are watching, resulting in an impersonal feat of computer wizardry with almost no emotional resonance. The filmвЂ™s special effects can be impressive - the apes were created digitally, the animators working with stunt performers without relying on motion-capture technology - but as is the case with far too many recent blockbusters, Tarzan canвЂ™t transcend a general sense of phoniness. However Tarzan tends to approach these topics the way it handles everything else: with a blunt-force obviousness that comes across as obligatory, as opposed to impassioned. Yates and writers Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer cast a harsh light on colonisation, the despoiling of the environment and the exploitation of others for personal greed. Capturing Jane and using her as bait, Leon lures John and his partner George Washington Williams (Jackson) across the jungle to Mbonga, who is looking to avenge a secret old wrong.Дirected by David Yates, who helmed the final four Harry Potter films (which were among the darkest of the series), The Legend Of Tarzan longs to be a sombre, stirring action-adventure, one that balances thrills with cultural commentary. His homecoming is immediately complicated by the fact that his invitation from the King of Belgium is actually a trap coordinated by the kingвЂ™s envoy, Leon Rom (Waltz), who has arranged to deliver him to an aggrieved local chieftain, Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou), in exchange for a mass of diamonds. Now a contented Earl living in вЂњcivilizedвЂќ society, he has misgivings, but prompted by his spirited wife Jane (Robbie), with whom he fell in love in the Congo, he decides to return with her by his side. He has not travelled to the Congo since he grew up there, raised by the apes and given the name Tarzan. Set in the late 19th century, the film picks up the action as the nobleman John Clayton III (SkarsgГҐrd) is asked to travel to the Congo to be the British representative overseeing the development of African lands by European nations. But while the studio will be praying that audiencesвЂ™ evergreen fondness for Tarzan can overcome potentially poor reviews, word-of-mouth should be modest at best.

Jackson and Christoph Waltz add marquee value, and the filmвЂ™s vague resemblance to hits like the Planet Of The Apes reboots and Peter JacksonвЂ™s King Kong remake could help initially. The Legend Of Tarzan, which comes to the US on July 1 and the UK on July 6, may well be a theatrical underperformer, hurting Warner BrosвЂ™ hopes of establishing a new franchise. The filmвЂ™s lack of inventiveness extends to a crop of unconvincing performances by good actors A talented cast led by Alexander SkarsgГҐrd scowls through the film, held hostage by a solemn script and ghastly amounts of CG. This ungainly and glum tale of the man famously known as Tarzan - who returns to the Congo, reconnecting with his past in the process - slavishly adheres to contemporary blockbuster convention, offering not a single spark of inspiration or real daring.

A muddle in the jungle, The Legend Of Tarzan transforms Edgar Rice BurroughsвЂ™ iconic character into a cinematic superhero - but certainly not a memorable one.

Legend of tarzan cast