The Legend of Tarzan
Warner Bros. | Release Date: July 1, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
20
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJun 29, 2016
The fights are quick and brutal and bloodless, with too much slo-mo and sped-up stuff, and some clever camera angles that get cut from before you can work out what you're looking at. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounJun 29, 2016
Skarsgård himself is fairly bland as Greystoke, delivering a po-faced Byronic spin on the character, all velvet coats and dreamy romantic stares at his belle while sitting barefooted in the boughs of trees. But at least the animals are memorable – best of all is a pack of scene-stopping silverback gorillas digitally created for the movie. This Tarzan isn’t quite the jungle VIP – but it’s got a little swing. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerJun 29, 2016
It’s nice that The Legend Of Tarzan isn’t a nakedly mercenary franchise play that presumes dozens of sequels to come. (It’s also not a low-rent Casper Van Dien vehicle.) But it sure could use some money-grubbing set pieces to tie the genial silliness together. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelJul 1, 2016
The set pieces are fun, if not as spectacular as those in Jon Favreau's adaptation of Kipling's similar "The Jungle Book." And the plot moves at a nice pace. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorJun 30, 2016
There’s also not much chemistry between Skarsgard and Robbie in a film that hints at the Greystokes’ great sex life but barely shows it. Instead, we get flashes of flesh that are hilariously dated in their obviousness. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenJun 30, 2016
Its theme of white man as savior of black Africans is, to say the least, highly anachronistic in these days and times. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittJun 30, 2016
While it looks great with its gorgeous computer-generated foliage and realistic animals, the story focuses too much on its stiff hero and a one-note villain rather than the big-picture ideas it raises in passing. Read full review
50
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJun 29, 2016
The Legend of Tarzan isn’t as singularly joyless as many of this summer’s other current offerings, but it also feels distinctly like a missed opportunity. Even when Skarsgård offers up the character’s famous jungle cry, it sounds more mournful than enthusiastic, and that sentiment seeps into the entire enterprise. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJun 29, 2016
For what it's worth, The Legend of Tarzan is several unpretentious cuts above the pompous, leaden "Greystoke" of over thirty years ago. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 29, 2016
The result is a “Legend” that feels inoffensively modern, or at least less offensive than it could have been...But you can’t make a bold statement or exciting action picture when every frame is filled with fear — of offending someone, of upsetting animal rights activists, of giving the audience a Tarzan they won’t recognize, of failure. Read full review
42
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonJun 30, 2016
Tarzan is too dull to offer consistent pulp excitement, too self-serious to let itself have fun, and too reliant on same-y CG spectacle to truly thrill. Read full review
42
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 29, 2016
Filmmakers simply can't make Tarzan like they used to. If someone tries, like director David Yates did with The Legend of Tarzan, he's just another superhero, swinging on vines rather than spider webs. Natives can't be restless. Lions won't be wrestled...Tarzan fans leave feeling Cheetah'd. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyJul 14, 2016
Robbie lights up her scenes with the much more special effect of raw personality. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 1, 2016
The new Tarzan film, The Legend of Tarzan, plays as if a dog ate part of the script. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJun 30, 2016
As written by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer, The Legend of Tarzan alternates between a brazenly contemporary sensibility and quietly time-honored events. Unfortunately, almost all of the former are awkward while the latter still ring true. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaJun 30, 2016
"Unfun" isn't a real word, but boy, it sure describes The Legend of Tarzan. Read full review
40
EmpireChris Hewitt (1)Jun 29, 2016
Not so much a ripping yarn, more of a dripping yarn, Yates’ reinterpretation of the Lord Of The Jungle is a big disappointment. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Jun 29, 2016
Alexander Skarsgard is more abs than actor as the ape man, and Margot Robbie's Jane looks about as 19th-Century as an Aussie surfer girl. Together, they produce all the real-life passion of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad. Read full review
40
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJun 29, 2016
The Legend of Tarzan ends up being a garbled, clunky production that tries to please everyone and ends up pleasing no one. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 29, 2016
As a brand, Burroughs’ hero has always been schlocky, and no amount of psychological depth or physical perfection can render him otherwise if the filmmakers can’t swing a convincing interaction between Tarzan and his animal allies. That dynamic — along with his full-throated yodel — has always been Tarzan’s trademark, but in this relatively lifeless incarnation, it simply doesn’t register. Read full review
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