Is 'The Legend of Tarzan' too cheesy?
The Legend of Tarzan combines action, romance, CGI animals and cheesiness for an entertaining adventure.
What do we mean by "cheesiness," you ask?
There were a few moments of the movie – which is set after Tarzan and Jane get married and move to London-- that left us feeling, well, we're not sure. Something about them wasn't entirely authentic. Perhaps the scenes tried to be too emotional? Or, as Paste BN movie critic Brian Truitt points out, maybe it's because our hero feels stiff.
Let's take a closer look at the offending scenes and a very unscientific rating we're calling the cheesiness level.
Warning: The below reveals a few plot details from movie The Legend of Tarzan.
The tree kiss
In an early scene of Tarzan, our title character (Alexander Skarsgard) finds his wife, Jane (Margot Robbie), up in a tree after they have a disagreement. Long story short: He wants to go to the Congo, and he doesn’t want her to come with. They reconcile, and he, barefoot, climbs on to Jane’s tree branch and plants one on her. Yep, Tarzan and Jane sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
OK, this is actually kind of sexy and romantic. Cheesiness level: Low
Tarzan reunites with lion friends
When Tarzan returns to his old neighborhood (the jungle), he sees lions that he apparently grew up with. In what feels like a very long sequence, Tarzan embraces the lions lovingly, in a manner that made us think of Christian the lion.
We just couldn’t help but imagine stuntmen in CGI suits shooting this scene with the muscly Skarsgard. Cheesiness level: Medium
The mating calls
After Tarzan and Jane reunite with old friends (both animals and humans), they spend the night in a shared bedroom in the Congo. Jane can’t find Tarzan, then starts to hear animal sounds… but they aren’t ordinary jungle noises. In fact, they are mating calls, vocalized by Tarzan, meant to woo Jane into bed. Tarzan’s plan is effective: She totally goes for it.
Birdcalls, really? Cheesiness level: High
Samuel L. Jackson talks about an ape’s genitals
According to Tarzan, the best way to handle a giant gorilla is to strip off your shirt and basically bow to him. So, that’s what the man raised by apes does, before getting his butt kicked. The angry gorilla then goes after Tarzan’s sidekick George Washington Williams, played by Samuel L. Jackson. Tarzan, on the ground, post-beating, says Williams should submit to the angry gorilla. Williams asks if that means he needs to “lick his nuts,” which Williams fortunately does not do.
A nuts joke? Really? Cheesiness level: Medium.
Tarzan legit cannot die
Tarzan fights a gorilla (as we mentioned above), dodges bullets, swings from tree vines onto moving trains, fist-fights a man who wants him dead and still seems to be in fine health throughout the course of the movie.
We have a better time believing the guy was raised by animals than that he is this invincible. Cheesiness level: Medium
Verdict: The film out for July 4th weekend is enjoyable... with Lactaid pills.
For more on Tarzan, listen to our recent Straight Up Hollywood podcast:
And read Truitt's 2-star review below.