Tarzan II (June 14, 2005)

This is a prequel to the original Tarzan, and thus set before both it and Tarzan & Jane. In all honesty I do not like prequels. They often introduce contradictions with the originals, and I feel they are unnecessary. If this period was enough to the development of the protagonist, as in the case of Tarzan, it was covered in enough detail for the audience to understand it in the first movie. Tarzan is interesting because he is a human raised by Gorilla’s and has to learn to adapt to the ways of humans. With no humans, he loses his unique nature as a bridge between two worlds. All that being said, this film is extremely cute. Tarzan was adorably naïve as a child. He struggles with fitting in with the apes as he could not do everything they could. The story is that Tarzan, after one of his missteps puts his family in danger, decides they would be better off without him and runs away deep into the jungle. There he meets an ape named Zugor who he convinces to help him find out who he is. They develop a sweet friendship as Tarzan helps fill the loneliness in Zugor’s heart. Zugor, is a crotchety old ape who pushes everyone away, but he develops a soft spot for the young Tarzan and takes him under his wing. While this is not a novel concept, it still manages to be endearing. In the end Tarzan learns that, while he cannot do everything an ape can, there are things only he can do and that makes him one of a kind. It is a good message for everyone, and it is presented in a simple way here. The villains introduced here, however, are very weak. they are a family of gorillas who live together in fear of Zugor (who pretends to be a terrifying monster). It is never explained why they live so far away from the rest of the gorilla. They do not appear to be in exile. They simply stay because they are simple minded and live in fear. I wish the villain were something akin to Scar or Sher Khan- characters who are cunning and pose a real threat to their respective protagonists. This is by far the weakest part of this sequel. The animation is a high point. It is extremely close to the original movie’s and thus looks fantastic. Overall Tarzan II is a passable sequel, with an endearing relationship and great animation, but weak villains and simple plot.

Final Rating: 5/10