Alexander Skarsgard stars in a scene from the movie "The Legend of Tarzan." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults.(CNS/Warner Bros.)

By Catholic News Service

The latest big-screen take on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Lord of the Jungle” creation is a wee bit silly and unspools just a few Victorian gentleman’s whiskers shy of an overblown parody. A loud summertime diversion, it follows Lord Greystoke aka Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgaard) and his wife Jane (Margot Robbie) from England to the African Congo where they both were raised and where the wicked emissary (Christophe Waltz) of Belgium’s King Leopold plots to enslave the people and extract all the natural resources.

Straining to be relevant, director David Yates handles the material in such a clumsily overt manner that both the seriousness and the fun are drained out of the experience. An eagerness to please prevents a consistently entertaining yarn from being spun.

Visually, the film alternates between a stiff cartoon and a perfume commercial, although the animal sequences are comparatively realistic. Catholic viewers will be dismayed by the startlingly inappropriate use of a rosary.

Frequent nongraphic violence, a scene of mild marital sensuality, irreverent behavior and humor, several uses of profanity, crass language and rude banter,

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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