Eighty some years ago, Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a novel about a young boy raised by apes who would grow up to be known as Tarzan. Appearing in a near countless procession of movies and TV shows, the lord of the apes became known worldwide and delighted audiences who got to see exotic flora and fauna from a part of the world to which they would never dare travel. Now, however, few parts of the world have been left unexplored and nature and wildlife shows take audiences deep into the jungles of many continents, including Africa. Thus, while he may have been popular years ago, Tarzan just doesn't have that drawing power that he used to possess.
While the "recent" Tarzan movie, 1984's "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord Of The Apes" revived some interest in the decades old story, that was because everything about it was done in a fresh, new way, and the story brought the ape man back to his ancestral home of London where he was most definitely a fish out of water character. Featuring a great performance from Christopher Lambert, the movie was a hit with moviegoers and momentarily recaptured the campy magic and adventure from those old films featuring Johnny Weissmuller and others.
It's doubtful the same will hold true for "Tarzan And The Lost City," an uneventful and certainly uninspired addition to the Tarzan series. Starting with Tarzan as the civilized man in London, we're quickly transported back to the "dark continent" for some monkey, err, jungle business, and without much more than a few opening lines on the screen to fill in plot details for the uninitiated. Of course the filmmakers are assuming that everyone knows the back story and are ready for another fabulous adventure, but unfortunately those last words don't pertain to this film.
While this won't be one of the worst movies you'll see this year, director Carl Schenkel ("Knight Moves," "The Mighty Quinn") and writers Bayard Johnson ("The Second Jungle Book") and J. Anderson Black (making his/her film debut) have delivered a boring picture that sheds nothing new on the old story. While the scenery (shot in South Africa) is occasionally pleasant to the eye, and Tarzan's yelling and swinging on vines are present, the filmmakers have jettisoned the fun and mystery found in the original films.
Part of the problem lies with Tarzan himself or, more precisely, Casper Van Dien (the lead in "Starship Troopers"). Although he has the chiseled face and washboard abs and certainly looks the jungle man part with his long hair extensions, his never changing stern expression grows thin rather quickly. While we acknowledge that his is a troubled character, torn between two worlds and partially incapable of complete human emotions, this is a completely wooden portrayal of the ape man. Thus, we never really care about his character or the predicament he's in.
That comes in the form of the villains, capably but not excitedly led by Steven Waddington ("The Last Of The Mohicans") who's joined by an assembly of stereotypical, indiscernible, and barely developed thugs. Filling out the ranks of the leads is Jane March ("The Color Of Night") as Jane, and at least she puts a little life and spunk into the movie for a while. Although her initial reactions to being in the jungle for the first time aren't entirely believable -- despite her being a confidant young lady of London it's doubtful she'd react the way she does to this mysterious land -- it's not long before she's screaming at snakes and having to be rescued.
The plot is bare bones at best and simply deals with some mercenaries trying to find a lost city while Tarzan and his tribal buddies try to stop them. Except for the youngest of viewers, the plot offers little suspense and tries to make up for that with some tribal "magic," but those moments are just as trite. Along the way there are some men in obvious gorilla costumes, a very fake looking swarm of bees, and a decided lack of mosquitos and other biting insects that one would expect should heavily populate such a wet, jungle area. Of course we'd hate to watch a movie where the characters are constantly swatting at biting critters, but then again it probably wouldn't be much worse than sitting through this flick.
Without the style of "Greystoke" or any of the fun found in the last year's Tarzan inspired "George Of The Jungle," this film is a complete dud and thus it's no surprise that Warner opted not to allow anyone to see it before it opened. This is one of those low budget, soon to be forgotten releases that surprisingly somehow made it to the big screen, but should be swinging out of theaters and into your local video store very soon. We give "Tarzan And The Lost City" a 2 out of 10.