TARZAN (2014)

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Reinhard Klooss  
Cast: Kellan Lutz, Robert Capron, Jaime Ray Newman, Spencer Locke
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 March 2014

Synopsis: Edgar Rice Burroughs’ TARZAN® -- one of the most classic and revered stories of all time - returns to the big screen, completely reimagined for a new generation. It is now present day. On an expedition in the remote African jungle, John Greystoke and his wife are killed in a helicopter crash while investigating a mysterious meteorite site. Only their young son J.J., nicknamed Tarzan, survives. A group of gorillas discovers the boy in the wreckage and takes him in as their own. Tarzan grows up learning the harsh laws of the jungle for nearly a decade until he encounters another human being - the courageous and beautiful young Jane Porter. It is love at first sight. But things get dangerous when William Clayton, who travels to Africa with Jane under false pretense, reveals his true - and greedy - intentions. Tarzan, now a man like no other, must use all his jungle instincts and intellect to protect his home and defend the woman he loves.

Movie Review:

Can you believe that it’s been more than a decade since Edgar Rice Burroughs’ titular character last made its appearance on the big screen? Indeed, some of you may recall Disney’s 1999 hand-drawn animation with the popular Phil Collins ballad ‘You’ll Be In My Heart’, though nostalgia alone doesn’t quite justify the mediocrity of this German-backed production from the studio behind ‘The Mortal Instruments’ and ‘Pompeii’. Yes, if you’re looking for no more than a fast-paced action adventure to keep the tykes occupied, this motion-capture animation will do just fine; otherwise, swing away fast.

Assuming both the role of writer and director is Reinhard Klooss, who has three German animated films to his credit and only one English-language feature called ‘Animals United’ that you probably have not seen. At least for the first hour, Klooss borrows heavily from his Disney predecessor, setting up the origin story of how the young son of millionaire John Greystroke is left abandoned in the jungle when dad and mom die in a helicopter crash and finds himself adopted by the kind mother ape Kala who recently lost a son and raises him as her own.

As Tarzan grows from a kid to an adolescent and finally a full-fledged adult to be voiced by ‘The Legend of Hercules’ star Kellan Lutz, he meets the ecologist Jane Porter (Spencer Locke) visiting the jungle with her dad (Les Bubb) - and anyone with a semblance of knowledge of pop-culture will know just what needs to happen in order for there to be the phrase ‘Tarzan and Jane’. Of course, Tarzan hasn’t yet learnt the English language, so in between introducing her to the breathtaking sights of his jungle home, the pair engage in some simple pantomime leading up to that classic - and therefore mandatory - ‘me Tarzan, you Jane’ scene.

To give the German-based Ambient Entertainment its credit, the animation looks pretty impressive. Tarzan’s top-to-bottom ratio may look a little disproportionate, but once you’re willing to look past the physics of his vine-swinging, you’ll find that the ‘Avatar’-like tropical flora and fauna are vividly rendered. Ditto for the large cast of jungle creatures whom Tarzan counts as friends; surely benefiting from the experience they had animating such creatures in Klooss’ aforementioned earlier feature, they do a fine job making the monkeys come alive.

On his part, Klooss keeps the pace swift and steady, and even though the storytelling isn’t particularly inspired, he at least covers the obligatory plot points without falling off the vines. Tarzan finds his nemesis here in an opportunist (Trevor St John) who has no qualms with razing the entire forest in order to locate a lost meteorite with potentially extra-terrestrial energy. There is an eco-message that Klooss tries to make about sacrificing nature for profit and development, but admittedly it feels tacked on and ripped from the pages of ‘Avatar’.

And indeed, originality is what seems consistently lacking in this reboot of the classic Apeman. Its plot seems recycled from a combination of Disney’s ‘Tarzan’ and James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, its animation largely drawn from compositions of the latter, and its man-versus-nature lesson made more emphatically in many other movies. But for the young ones of whom a visual presentation would be a much more memorable introduction than a textual one, ‘Tarzan 3D’ - the first to feature the character with the additional dimension no less - is as good a place as any to start. 

Movie Rating:

(Good only if you need a quick introduction to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic Apeman character - or if you need something to distract the tykes)

Review by Gabriel Chong