Plot
At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, King Leopold II of Belgium claims the Congo Basin. Five years later, after accruing massive debts in exploiting the resources of the Congo Free State, Leopold sends his envoy Léon Rom to secure the fabled diamonds of Opar. The expedition is massacred by warriors led by Chief Mbonga, who offers Rom diamonds in exchange for Tarzan.
The man once called "Tarzan", The Rt Hon. John Clayton, Earl of Greystoke, has left Africa for his estate in Britain with his American wife Jane. John's parents survived a shipwreck only to die in Africa, where their child, as a baby, was adopted by the Mangani, a race of apes.
John is offered an invitation from Leopold to visit Boma. The Prime Minister, The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, and George Washington Williams (the American envoy) explain that Leopold is defaulting on his loans, and a visit from John – whose exploits as Tarzan made him a celebrity – would secure Britain's influence in the Congo. John, however, refuses and leaves the meeting. George later approaches John, reveals his suspicions that Leopold is sanctioning slavery, and persuades John to accompany him to the Congo as a credible witness to discover the truth.
John, Jane, and George journey to the Congo, circumventing Rom and his corrupt financier Mr. Frum, and are welcomed by the Kuba village of Clayton and Jane's youth. Rom and his men arrive during the night and capture the villagers, killing Chief Muviro, taking John prisoner, and taking the Chief's son Wasimbu along with other young men to serve as porters. George rescues John, but Jane and the captive villagers are taken aboard Rom's steamship. Rom turns out to have arranged John's invitation from Leopold to deliver him to Mbonga.
Pursuing the steamship, John, George, and the village's remaining warriors seize a train carrying Belgian and other European soldiers in askari uniforms along with enslaved Congolese. An engineer informs them of Rom's plan to take over the Congo, sanctioned by Leopold: using slave labor, Rom has built forts across the region, linked by railway and river travel, for an army of 20,000 mercenaries soon to arrive. With Leopold bankrupt, Rom needs Opar's diamonds to pay for the army.
Finding documents that will expose Leopold, John and George leave the proof with the Kuba warriors and rescue enslaved people to deliver to Boma. They continue on through Mangani territory. Confronted by the Mangani, John is forced to fight his foster brother Akut, now the alpha male. John loses and is left injured, but he and George are permitted to travel on by Akut.
Jane and Wasimbu escape the steamship and flee into the jungle. Jane sends Wasimbu off to rally the other tribes, knowing that Rom's men will follow her. Jane encounters the Mangani, and Rom's men open fire on them. John arrives, saving some Mangani, including Akut, and pursues Rom, who takes Jane to Mbonga's tribe to collect the diamonds. Years before, Mbonga's son killed John's foster mother Kala. Enraged, John killed him to avenge her. Mbonga attacks John, who wins the fight but spares the chief. George and the Mangani then arrive to stop the fighting, and the two foreigners convince Mbonga that Rom is their common enemy.
Rom takes Jane and the diamonds to Boma, where the mercenary army approaches shore. John and George send a stampede of wildebeest through the town, overrunning Rom's men, as the Kuba warriors arrive by train and free their families. John rescues Jane and pursues Rom, who prepares to deliver the diamonds to Frum and the mercenaries. George sinks the steamship, while Rom attempts to strangle John with his rosary.
Using a mating call to summon crocodiles, John breaks free and leaves Rom to be devoured. As the vessel's boiler explodes, John escapes. Frum and the fleet of mercenaries depart. George returns to London and presents the prime minister with an open letter to Leopold exposing the slavery and abuses of the Congolese people.
One year later, John and Jane have relocated to Africa. They celebrate the birth of their son, and John returns to his rightful place among the great apes as Tarzan.
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