What makes this Tarzan different? Well, for one thing, he’s got his own hashtag. (#LegendOfTarzan)

Ah yes, The Legend of Tarzan. And this character is a legend of the movies, even if that legend has probably been forgotten in recent years. 50 or 60 years ago, Tarzan was a movie theater staple; the subject of dozens of films. Tarzan’s last big moment in movies was Disney’s animated version from 1999. This latest effort, directed by Harry Potter helmer David Yates, looks like the product of cinematic gene splicing. Take Spider-Man’s swinging scenes, cross-fertilize them with The Jungle Book and Peter Jackson’s King Kong, and just a dash of the hardbodied heroism of 300, and then unleash the results into theaters. Here’ a plot synopsis:

It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) left the jungles of Africa—where he was raised by gorillas—behind for an aristocratic life in London as John Clayton, 3rd Viscount Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane Porter (Margot Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo Free State to serve as a trade emissary of the House of Commons, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the corrupt Belgian Captain Léon Rom (Christoph Waltz).

Some of the swinging stuff looks pretty cool (says the world’s biggest Spider-Man nerd), but a lot of the stuff with the animals looks very fake. The whole thrill of Tarzan comes from the clash between the human world and the animal world, and if the animal world looks like it was entirely conceived in a computer then you’re missing part of the character’s core appeal. That said, I can really get behind the idea of Alexander Skarsgard punching apes in the face. The Legend of Tarzan opens in theaters on July 1.

More From 100.7 KOOL FM