Tarzan may have left the jungle, but the call of the wild proves too irresistible for the vine-swinging hero as he is lured back to the African forests, only to find himself racing to save his kidnapped wife and the Congolese people in a new film.
“The Legend of Tarzan,” which had its european premiere in London on Tuesday (July 5), sees Tarzan, played by Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard, going by the name John Clayton, living in a manor in Victorian England and married to Jane, played by Margot Robbie.
But an invitation to the Congo draws the Claytons back, where they are ambushed and Jane is kidnapped by the nefarious Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), who has been tasked with delivering Tarzan to a tribal chief in exchange for diamonds.
Skarsgard, best known for playing a vampire in HBO’s “True Blood” series, is the latest star to play Tarzan, bulking up his physique over nine months to embody the jungle hero’s strength and animal-like agility, but he jokingly revealed that he did not stick to any strict training regime once he had finished shooting the film.
“My dad was shooting a miniseries in London at the time, and so I went straight to his house, and he loved to cook my father, and so I went straight to his house after wrap and spent four to five days on his couch just being fed. Incredible weekend,” said the actor.
The film also incorporates a significant amount of special effects, but Margot Robbie did not see this as too much of a challenge to deal with on set.
“You would think that but they actually built all the sets, the jungle, the village, the town, everything was tangible and there for us so we didn’t need to use our imagination much in that respect, it was really just the animals, but you kind of use your imagination no matter what kind of film you’re doing,” said Robbie.
The fictional story of Tarzan, based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is weaved into the real life story of African-American historian George Washington Williams, who traveled to the Congo and condemned Belgium’s King Leopold II for his harsh and brutal treatment of the Congolese people.
Tarzan has also appeared in numerous comic books since its debut, making the film the latest in a long line of recent comic book adaptions for the big screen.
Director David Yates, best known for directing four “Harry Potter” films, said the comic book genre is not yet in danger of tiring out audiences.
“I think the comic book genre will constantly evolve. Because it is a genre that contains stories and characters that can go in any direction so I as a place for theatre it will probably be with us for a little bit longer yet. And, you know, Marvel do an amazing job and they’re bright enough to take those worlds in different directions. And they have done which I think is amazing,” he said.
UK audiences can see ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ on the big screen from Wednesday (July 6).
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016