Sheena is a very
beautiful lady Tarzan raised by a tribal shaman and jungle animals.
The tag line tells you quite a bit about the nature of the project:
"Sheena. Part animal. Part legend. All woman."
A sportscaster comes to an African
country to write about the king's brother, who is also a top
football star. The football-playing prince engineers the
assassination of his brother, followed by his own ascension to the
throne. When he becomes king, he decides to invade the neighboring
tribal territory of Sheena's people. Ooh! Bad call. Sheena, of
course, summons all the animals to stampede, calls all the birds to
make irritating noises, and the usual Tarzanistic clichés.
Here's a tip for you colonialist
youngsters - never piss off a white person raised by African jungle
animals. I have yet to see this strategy pay off.
Although the simplistic plot seems
to target the kiddie audience, and the film is rated PG, it includes
several beautiful, if innocent, nude scenes.
Only in the 80s.
Ah, the 80s, how I miss thee!
The film features some great shots
of the countryside in Kenya, and lots of wild animals in various
degrees of domesticity, because Sheena has the usual obligatory
special rapport with animals. The photography is first-rate, which
makes this movie an attractive travelogue, and a good nature film.
Without the beautiful scenery and the nudity, Sheena would an be
unwatchable throwback to the juvenile, mass-produced jungle pictures
of the 1940's and 1950's. The actors are so amateurish they make
Johnny
Weissmuller seem to be Edmund Kean, and Sheena's
dialogue includes stuff like, "The
mouth is to eating. Why do you press yours upon mine?" |