I have never, ever considered the whole Tarzan idea or any of the books and movies on the subject anything more than an entertainment for children. Also, from such perspective only I am evaluating this movie.

My 7-year old son, who is a big Tarzan fan, asked me to buy him this movie on DVD, so I did. We've watched it together. He enjoyed it enormously and this is, in this particular case, a perfectly sufficient reason for me to rate this movie highly, as I did.

The actors playing the main roles are both very attractive, charming, and play very well, having in mind that the script is about Tarzan and his jungle, not about Hamlet or Brothers Karamazov. The movie is full of lush, wonderful scenes of African nature, exotic wild life. It's also very dynamic, full of action, definitely not boring. The good guys win over the bad ones. And if it's a great and clean enough entertainment for a seven-year old, it should be also appreciated by his, or her parents.

Regarding all that magic at the end, which frustrated so many reviewers. Well, it's no Dostoyevski guys, it's a pure children's entertainment, so why not some magic? Maybe those African tribe leaders really have the power to call back the souls of their long dead soldiers, in case of a realy prominent danger? And those souls return to defend their tribe! And what's wrong with some power from above changing the leader of the tribe into a humongous King Cobra, in the Moment of Truth? Haven't you seen magic like this, and much more, in any other movies? Disney maybe? Is it really so bad?

To me all those whiners look like someone who picked ice cream for a main course at a dinner, and then complained badly that "it was too light, too sweet, lacked any spice or more definitive substance. That's because you've picked ice cream guys! And a good one!

The film starts days before the wedding when way off in darkest Africa bad guy Nigel Ravens (Steven Waddington), stumbles upon the legendary lost city of Opar. This time around instead of being the forgotten mining colony of Atlantis, Opar is the cradle of civilization (keep in mind that ERB would have thought it was the Fertile Crescent). When Ravens and his thugs start throwing their weight around in Opar, the old shaman sends a mystical message to Tarzan, who comes running back to the jungle. Of course Jane follows her beloved because if anybody is going to get rescued in this film by Tarzan it is going to be her. Above all, Tarzan seems to be a champion of the environment, which is not exactly news to anybody who read the original novels.

Casper Van Dien has the sculptured bronze body for Tarzan, which director Carl Schenkel reminds us of time and time again with lingering camera shots. However, nobody in this film is really motivated to do any serious acting, including the guys in the ape suits. It suddenly strikes me that all the Tarzan novels and Tarzan movies that have come out in the last 100 years have merged into one giant story where bad white men come into the jungle and Tarzan stops them, rescuing Jane along the way. You can change why the bad guys have come into the jungle (gold, slaves, animals, etc.) and change the damsel in distress from Jane to somebody else, but it is the rare Tarzan adventure that violates this formula (e.g., "Tarzan's New York Adventure" turns the jungle into the Big Apple and has Tarzan traveling there to rescue Boy, which would be the exception that proves the rule).

To be fair, this film is aimed at kids, who could still be intrigued by the idea of Tarzan and not know what they are missing in terms of the character's rich legacy. There is lots of action, which is always a good thing in a Tarzan movie, and the scenery is pretty good. Not quite as good as "Greystroke: The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes," but still way above average for a Tarzan movie. The violence is acceptable for kids, although the final fate of the villain might be one of those scenes too intense for small children. If the standard is all the Tarzan films that have come before, then this one is average and in color.