THE LEGEND OF TARZAN – Rated PG-13

Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson

Director David Yates, who has brought us many a vision of Harry Potter over the years, is taking on another English character, this time the “KING OF THE JUNGLE”, as he has returned to London to live out his life as a man, not an animal.

Although it seems ~ the jungle is still calling his name ~ when Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) is asked to return to the them to pursue mean and nasty businessman Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), who is invading Tarzan’s home, in hopes of staking claim to its diamond mines…

And what’s a trek back to the land of your youth, without your beautiful jungle princess in tow, as Jane Clayton (Margot Robbie) isn’t about to let her hunk of a man make this trip back to the wild without her…

As Tarzan finds his way back to the JUNGLE MAN he once was, he must now face the demons of his past, and forge a brighter future, for his people, his animals and himself, in the place he calls HOME.

I give THE LEGEND OF TARZAN a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH THIS ONE ON DVD – Skarsgard is perfectly cast as the eye-catching, high-swinging “man of the jungle” – as his moves and mannerisms will have you from his very first entrance on screen as the savage turned businessman John Clayton. Robbie is superb too playing the headstrong and extremely beautiful Jane. Jackson is also perfectly cast, as the wisecracking comrade of Tarzan’s – George Washington Williams. And lest we not forget to mention “Mr. Mean and Nasty” yet again ~ Christoph Waltz – as I am beginning to think he is being typecast as same character in each film ~ which I am sure totally works for his bank account ~ but I would love to see him playing something else for a change. All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film – beyond it’s perfect casting – to it’s epic cinematography and it’s well written storyline, heck, I even thought the animal CGI was just as good, if not better than this year’s JUNGLE BOOK. So, if you were thinking like I was, that this was going to be a big ol’ flop and a waste of your time or money – think again, as I ended up enjoying this film very much from beginning to end…

Kathy Kaiser