This film is definitely one for the boys, writes Christine Powley.
Director: Reinhard Klooss
Cast: Kellan Lutz, Spencer Locke, Trevor St John, Robert Capron, Mark Deklin
Rating: (PG)
3 stars out of 5
Edgar Rice Burroughs published his first Tarzan adventure in 1912 and the first movie treatment was in 1918.
Right from the beginning there was not much linkage between the character in the books and the vine-swinging lug of the films, but Burroughs was not the type of author who fretted over such details. As long as the Tarzan movies were making him money, Hollywood could film whatever it liked.
Yet a century on, a certain type of fan is incensed no film-maker has yet gone back to the well and actually made a movie of the book. Instead, film versions are wedded to the visual delights of swinging on vines and fighting crocodiles.
This 3-D animation, Tarzan (Rialto) is a strange mixture of modern rejigging and classic Hollywood derring-do which only makes sense when you realise that it is aimed squarely at an audience of 7-year-old boys.
We start with the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, mostly because 7-year-old boys love dinosaurs, but once we have had our dinosaur fix it turns out the asteroid has mystical powers and is a magic power source to boot.
That is why the Greystokes were in Africa, looking for the powerful asteroid. The search kills little Tarzan's parents but fortunately he is taken in by the great apes and the rest is history. While the plotting is too sporadic for adult enjoyment, the children it is aimed for will be enthralled.
Best thing: The animation of the natural environment is a treat for the eye.
Worst thing: The human animation keeps edging into the creepy territory.
See it with: Any 7-year-old boy you have around the house. He is bound to think it is awesome.
