Yah, it's been so long since we've had the story of a feral child brought up by animals in the forest. I'm glad that we're going to get a fresh new storyline after all these years...
I was excited for this new Tarzan, especially given the director is David Yates. Love his work. And sooooo looking forward to Fantastic Beasts in November! That being stated... the studio has yet to lift their review embargo for this film. Not a good sign. Got a sinking feeling the reviews are going to suck. Hopefully, the film will do very well at the box.
They're not exactly ringing endorsements. And there are plenty of slams against the "cheap looking" VFX. Which begs the question regarding the industry's heavy reliance on CG: Are too many weak stories being produced with the assumption that VFX/CG will save the day? Case in point: Jurassic World Great VFX. Lame acting. Spectacularly stupid story!
I definitely think there are too many terrible stories being made, just because they think they can be flashy blockbusters. Just look at every Michael Bay movie ever created. I know that the tentpole strategy is in right now, but I really have very little interest in those sorts of films. In an average year, I probably only see 2 or 3 movies in the theater, because I just don't want to pay that much for something that's kind of dumb. On the rare occasion that there's something that interests me, it seems like it disappears after 2 weeks because the next tentpole needs to have 10 theaters running at each location. I know it seems to be working for them right now, but I wonder how many customers Hollywood is turning off with their current strategy, and if they'll change course before they're gone for good
This film turned out to be another stellar example of critics not agreeing with the public: only 1 in 3 film reviewers enjoyed it, whereas only 1 out of 4 movie goers did not. Completely reversed. And it would have won the weekend had Dory not taken that spot for the third week in a row. I'm wondering how much of the reviewers' dislike stemmed from their criticisms of the story not being politically correct enough for their tastes? Many reviews I read lambasted the studio for even attempting to tell the "white savior in Africa" story given our current cultural sensitivity issues. Which isn't something to dismiss out of hand. But... shoot. It's Tarzan, fer cryin' out loud. The guy comes from a Lily White Upper Crust background. Duh. It's a popcorn flick. Period. Sometimes mindless CG Indulgence is OK. If I took every critic's advice about which films to spend my time watching, I'd never make it out of the indie art houses.
Critics love arthouse movies like: Finding Dory Jungle book Inside Out Zootopia Star Wars: TFA Captain America: Civil War
OK, enough with the undying Disney love. You're missing the point entirely. Your list is but a teeny tiny segment of the overall release slate. Six films is but a drop in the bucket to what gets thrown up on theatre screens every year by all studios. Not to mention... you're conveniently leaving out the Disney flops like Alice 2016 that received both bad reviews and bad box office performance. (Decent chance that Pete's Dragon will do the same.) Many films, especially PG-13 ones like Tarzan and R-rated ones like Hangover 3, do very well at the box in spite of rotten reviews. Just because you referenced six Disney films that critics liked and performed well doesn't mean the other several hundred non-Disney features are going to go the same way. Plenty of well-received films, like the art house comedy Love & Friendship, have near-perfect approval ratings with abysmal box office returns. While films like Hangover 3 are universally panned yet do very well in ticket sales. Seriously. Six Disney films that critics liked. Big whoop. How many other films have critics despised but were successful? And how many have they loved that bombed at the box? Far, far more in both situations than the six Disney films you're holding up as some kind of overall industry representation.
I haven't seen it, but the reviews I've read/heard all mentioned something about trying to reconcile the story for the modern era. Perhaps they took it too far and lost the original concept, or perhaps they didn't take it far enough and lost modern audiences, but from my understanding they did attempt to address it Personally, when I go to these types of movies, I kind of like to turn my brain off to modern conflicts and just enjoy the film. Nobody seems to think that this is a great piece of cinema, so perhaps it would have been better for it to accept that it was a summer popcorn flick and steer clear of any messages. Then again, I think it would have been tough for this to get great reviews regardless, coming so soon behind a similar story in The Jungle Book with overwhelmingly positive reviews
I'm guessing it might be a case of the former, given the latest rumblings about Yates' decision to remove the Captain Rom - Tarzan kiss scene after test audiences claimed it confused them.
Oh dear. Sounds like they let their modern sensibilities get the best of them. It makes me feel that much better for having no interest in the movie itself. Also, those clips in the video looked like they were CGI-ed beyond recognition. Yeesh!
