Tarzan and the Lost City Review
by Greg Dean Schmitz (bookhouse AT geocities DOT com)April 27th, 1998
(This review can be found on the WWW at
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/3181/tarzanlostcity.html)
I saw Tarzan and the Lost City last night, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I was quite impressed with how well they combined the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels with the style of the old Johnny Weissmuller films. Oh sure, it's not a perfect film... there's a particularly fake looking monkey, and it stars a near unknown (Casper Van Dien is mostly known as the star of Starship Troopers), but I don't think you go to this film expecting big budget spectacle. You see a Tarzan flick because you want to see a fun adventure story... and Tarzan and the Lost City delivers. (just suspend your disbelief a little... especially in the last 5 minutes)
There's been a real lack of good movies about heroes in recent years. Attempts to bring the spandex-wearing types from comic books into the cinema have been mostly campy (the recent Batman films), or so painfully dark as to obscure the "heroics" of the genre. (Spawn) In this new Tarzan, we have a hero who is truly heroic, yet vulnerable, with very little camp (thank goodness), and not much angst. (ditto). Of course, I fully expect most critics will really hate this film, but I don't think they're seeing it for what it is... the return to the long-lost genre of the jungle-adventure movies, the stuff of Saturday matinees in the 40's. (My parents tell me about them :)
I'm not going to go into too many details about the plot, but I'll just mention that I thought Van Dien's portrayal of Tarzan was right on. He portrayed him not as a man-beast (which is the common interpretation... and the one that Disney appears to be going with in their upcoming animated version), but as an intelligent savvy adventurer, yet one that is still just a man. He's at least half-clothed during most of the movie, which is loyal to the novels, and even when he gets down to just his shorts near the end, it's not a loincloth but torn shorts. He wields a knife and a bow and arrow, and looks the part of Tarzan. None of the actors are particularly amazing, but this isn't a film where you look for great roles. Besides, Casper Van Dien benefits from a supporting cast of unknowns, as they don't overshadow him that way... and in a Tarzan flick, that works.
Most people won't get Tarzan and the Lost City, but if you want 90 minutes of action-packed adventure escapism featuring a hero we haven't seen done well in a long time, this film delivers despite some minor glitches. (Like the Stargate-esque finale) I give it a B+
This review can be found at:
Bookhouse's Previews of Upcoming Movies
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/3181/
Greg Dean Schmitz
[email protected]
More on 'Tarzan and the Lost City'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
