Movie review: Middling Tarzan remake arrives starring Kellan Lutz

THIS cheaply-animated rewrite of the Tarzan legend stars Kellan Lutz, as the famous vine-swinging, loincloth-sporting man of the jungle.

Tarzan (PG)

Two and a half stars

With school holidays coming up soon, more kiddie-friendly offerings are being bumped to the front of the queue by cinema programmers.

While this cheaply-animated rewrite of the Tarzan legend isn’t going to sell out anywhere it plays, it does go OK as entry-level cartooning for non-discerning primary schoolers.

The traditions first struck by the famous tale from author Edgar Rice Burroughs have been largely ignored by the filmmakers here.

While Tarzan is a still a vine-swinging, loincloth-sporting man of the jungle, he’s now also an eco-conscious crusader against anti-green fat-cats everywhere. Doesn’t do that trademark airborne yodel of his as much as you’d like these days, either.

Reboot ... Kellan Lutz is the voice of Tarzan.

The voice and motion-capture likeness of Tarzan comes from American actor Kellan Lutz, who is serviceable enough in the role, even if he isn’t going to be causing the likes of Andy Serkis to be losing any sleep.

Some strange plotting business involving a meteorite that hit our planet 70 million years ago ends up taking the production in a few interesting directions.

Up close and personal ... romance is in the air in the movie Tarzan.

The same can’t be said of the dead-end “me Tarzan, you Jane” romance angle, which not even some Coldplay on the soundtrack can turn around.

Overall, a middling effort that will still leave most younger children happy with what they have encountered.

Originally published as Movie review: Middling Tarzan remake arrives starring Kellan Lutz