Alex Skarsgard swings around in the ‘Tarzan’ trailer: does this look really messy?

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Back in October, The Hollywood Reporter ran a very interesting story about Tarzan, the film starring Alexander Skarsgard as Lord Greystoke/Tarzan. Apparently, even though nothing about the production was really working, the studio just kept throwing money at it. The budget bloated up to somewhere north of $180 million, probably a lot more when all is said and done, especially if you take into account what it’s going to cost to promote this mess when it comes out next July. Well, yesterday, the studio released the first images from the film and while Alex’s abs looked amazing, it still screamed “mess” to me. Today, they’ve released the trailer. Here you go:

To be honest, this looks much better than I was expecting, although my expectations were bargain-basement. The effects look great, the jungle stuff is visually compelling and the CGI apes don’t look like cartoons. But… but… I still can’t believe they poured all of that money into this production.

As for the people… I totally forgot that Sam Jackson is in this. Christoph Waltz seems to be phoning it in, and Margot Robbie seems… confused? I agree, Margot, this is confusing. Honestly, the whole film will fall apart if Alex’s performance is sub-par, so with those kinds of expectations, does it seem like he’s delivering? Eh.

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Stills courtesy of ‘Tarzan’.

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46 Responses to “Alex Skarsgard swings around in the ‘Tarzan’ trailer: does this look really messy?”

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  1. Lindy79 says:

    If there’s no Phil Collins soundtrack, it can go to hell

  2. jeanne says:

    christoph waltz and sam jackson, i’m in. i love these hokey action adventures – mindless entertainment fun.

  3. Bridget says:

    Because who wasn’t dying for a new live-action Tarzan?

  4. Eleonor says:

    I think a Tarzan remake is not a good idea.

  5. Tiffany27 says:

    Christoph, my Austrian King, do better.

  6. antipodean says:

    I cannot fathom why they thought it was a good idea to remake this tired old story. Having said that, no one will surpass Christopher Lambert as Lord Greystoke/Tarzan, for me. (1984). Ralph Richardson was great in that version as well, it was his last movie. Andie MacDowell played Jane.

  7. Ana says:

    Doesn’t matter. Skarsgard is in the movie. Will watch.

  8. agnes says:

    That has to be a comedy? Right?

  9. lucy2 says:

    I’ve been seeing people saying “it’s a mess, it’s going to flop!” for a while now, but I don’t know, the trailer looks ok to me. Like a typical action/adventure type movie, lots of action, CGI, etc. If it doesn’t get horrible reviews and is suitable for families/kids, it’ll probably do just fine.

  10. Vesta says:

    Maybe there’s some impressive nature cinematography, a gorilla rape and face scrunching overacting “suffering” by Tarzan and who knows, we may have a new “The Revenant” in our hands?

  11. larry says:

    Random question: where did he find pants? If he was left as a baby…where did he find man pants?

  12. Ankhel says:

    This doesn’t look too bad? However, Tarzan fights a gorilla… An unarmed man attemping to fight a gorilla would die, simple as that. They are about 8 times as strong as us, and have wicked teeth.

    • antipodean says:

      Ankhel, lol, this is the world of CGI after all, and you are being entirely too reasonable for a Thursday morning. These practicalities have no bearing in the world of Hollywood.

    • Elisa the I. says:

      If Leonardo can fight the bear, Alexander can fight the gorilla, non?

      • Ankhel says:

        Leonardo, being a pioneer, probably has a gun, or at least a knife or an axe. Alex has a loincloth. Not very helpful, unless the gorilla chokes on it.

      • antipodean says:

        Ankhel. you slay me. Says Alex, “Gorilla, step off I say, or I shall have at you with my trusty loin cloth”! Gorilla backs off shamefacedly as Lord Greystone yodels lustily.

      • Elisa the I. says:

        you guys are killing me! I would love to see that scene!

  13. JDC says:

    I really don’t think this is as bad as everyone is saying. The story of Tarzan has been redone a ton of times, so that issue isn’t a deal-breaker here. And sometimes, some remakes are much better than the original. That said, the realistic special effects here look AWESOME. Also, you have to keep in mind, trailers are barely a summary of the actual film, so there are many puzzle pieces missing. You can’t judge a performance from these snippets. (Sometimes you can if the actors are terrible to being with, but these actors are pretty dependable for giving decent-to-excellent performances in general.)
    There’s nothing wrong with making a fun, realistic-but-out-of-this-world action adventure movie! I’m not worried that these actors are going to be heading to the Oscars for this movie role in particular. (Although I do believe the Oscars and other awards in general are so snobby–no one gives adventure or comedy movies credit, as if only serious coma-inducing movies are the only award-worthy movies out there.)
    The key to a good action movie are the acting and writing, which can make or break it, in my opinion. In this movie, these actors are good, the movie effects are awesome, the story is a sound one, so it will probably result in a fun and enjoyable movie experience.
    By comparison, my sister and I saw San Andreas when it came out. Not only was ALL the acting terrible, but the writing as well. Though the story line was legit (earthquakes in that area are not unusual), but it could have been better had the writers done some scientific research (or hired someone to do it). All of that culminated in a terrible movie experience in general. (I get that the Dwayne Johnson is always entertaining, but serious acting is not his forte. They should have surrounded him with better actors, and equipped them all with better writing, to make it all a more enjoyable movie.) That’s why I think this Tarzan movie will be just fine. The actors are good, the effects are good, and the story is a solid story. CAN’T WAIT!

  14. Cee says:

    I got some serious Heart of Darkness vibes from the opening sequence. What will Tarzan sound like, though? That’s the deal breaker.

  15. Bassza says:

    Mmm Colonialism…

  16. VecchiaSignora says:

    Can’t wait to see this!

  17. Sochan says:

    Jane sounds like 20-y/o American college girl from California. She’s supposed to be in the Victorian era. Her accent and speech is totally wrong. Sam Jackson, who I usually love to watch, looks awkward, like he wishes he hadn’t taken his job and now his heart’s not in it. The Getman actor – blanking on his name as I type in a tiny screen – looks like he’s about to chew all the scenery. Skars and his pinky is silly and doesn’t suit him. Overall it’s too soon to tell but this mostly looks bad. I do have a feeling that Tarzan is not gearing up to fight the apes. He was raised by apes. He is their child and they are his family. I believe he’s calling the apes to his side and together they’ll fight the humans who have Jane. I think the trailer deliberately makes the apes and Tarzan look like enemies to throw the audience off track.

  18. Minx says:

    I can’t wait to see this! The trailer looks amazing. I like that we see the reverse of the typical tale. In this version, we get Tarzan going from distinguished John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, back to his childhood home in the jungle. The cast is top notch, the CGI and cinematography look really good so far, Alex looks stunning, and the man can act (anyone see him with Bel Powley in Marielle Heller’s Diary of a Teenage Girl?). Based on what I’ve seen, this looks like it has all the necessary ingredients to put butts in seats for a fun summer movie. I certainly understand remake fatigue, but I guess I don’t get why people are so eager to trash this and Alex before it’s out of the gate.

    • dj says:

      I cannot wait! I am Askars fan too. Glad to see him as Tarzan. Finally, a remake that has not been done in the last 5 years. Popcorn and my Viking. I am so down with a fun movie!

  19. Camille says:

    It has a good cast and looks like a decent action popcorn flick, I’ll watch this even if the reviews suck (plus I’m a big ASkars fan).

  20. Tiffany says:

    This cast is stacked and Yates does not suck as a director. I’m in.

  21. Nicole says:

    Looks awesome… but 180 million is insane.

  22. Heather says:

    no just no!!! ill be sure to miss it

  23. Maria_ says:

    Im in! and just for the jungle… :-p

  24. KCAT says:

    I’m out!