If someone told you about a $180 million blockbuster directed by Harry Potter veteran David Yates that was based on a recognizable property known the world over, one that boasted an impressively stacked ensemble and had staked out a prime early July release date, you’d find yourself equal parts curious and excited.
Then, if you discovered it was an effects-driven adventure starring Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, and Djimon Honsou, you’d think that all sounded pretty great. Instead, The Legend of Tarzan was almost the definition of cinematic mediocrity, and you’d struggle to find a huge number of folks who could remember that it even existed without having to jog their memory first.
It’s not a bad movie by any stretch, but it’s not a particularly exciting or engaging one either. A box office haul of $356 million was completely respectable and ensured the movie didn’t bomb, but it also didn’t turn much of a profit. It’s just… there; a big budget studio-backed effort that landed in the summer of 2016 and almost instantly faded from the collective consciousness without making any sort of noticeable impression on anybody.
However, The Legend of Tarzan has been rebounding on streaming over the last few days, as per FlixPatrol. It’s been shooting up the Netflix most-watched list for close to a week now, and the Top 20 is well within reach as we edge closer to the weekend.