Tomb Raider - movie review
Tomb Raider
Plot: Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins
Director: Roar Uthaug
Certificate: 12A (moderate violence, threat, injury detail)
Runtime: 1hr 58 mins
Release Date: Friday 16th March 2018
Video game movies. A curse that not even Indiana Jones himself would be able to lift. At this rate, after the recent failures of Warcraft and Assassin's Creed, the genre seemed doomed to ever produce a hit. Therefore, as the build up for Tomb Raider swept over the internet, I really couldn't care. I planned to give it a watch but go in with as little expectations as possible to ensure that I wouldn't leave totally distraught. Upon now seeing Tomb Raider, the big question is; has it broken the video game movie curse? No, BUT there is a lot of fun to be had. To break the curse, we needed a film exceptional to prove us all wrong. Tomb Raider settles for being quite good.
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| Hello Lara. This is your tape. |
My relationship with the Tomb Raider franchise has been fairly hit or miss. Catching the tail end of the video game's heyday, my generation wasn't as addicted to the Tomb Raider series as those a couple years older than me were. That also meant that I really did not enjoy the early 2000s live action adaptations starring Angelina Jolie (but then who did?). Those films were a decade behind and belonged in the cheesy 90s section of Blockbuster. However, it was in 2013 that video game fandoms everywhere rejoiced as Tomb Raider would soon be coming to a video game console near you with a darker, grittier reboot explaining how she became the intrepid adventurer we know her to be. Thankfully, Sony and the director, Roar Uthang, decided to go with this most recent envisioning to base a new film on. The film sticks reasonably close to the story from the game as Lara Croft (Vikander) is on a quest to find her missing father (West) that leads her to a mysterious island swarming with a shady expeditionary force that is looking to awaken mystical powers far beyond their control. It's a typical, fairly basic plot that has been done to death and, despite a sense of joy in some of the scenes, the most obvious parallel of Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade does spring to mind and not in a positive way (the final act is near enough an exact replica of Indy's trials). Tomb Raider also doesn't benefit from an overwhelming sense of predictability. From the opening prologue, you can confidently bet your life savings on how the ensuing two hours will shape out. I would also strongly advise those intending to see Tomb Raider to avoid all trailers if possible. Much of the promotional material spoil significant moments in the film and a hefty portion of the big money shots especially for the third act. Replacing the braids and dual wielding pistols left by Angelina Jolie, Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander steps confidently into the role and leaves an indelible impression upon the character. Vikander portrays Croft in a very different manner from the classic games and falls more in line with the modern representation. She's spirited, adventurous but also unafraid of fighting dirty and killing anyone who stands in her path with whatever she can find lying about. Personally, Vikander was the perfect choice for the role. Not only does she look the part, but also adds a sense of humility to Croft and also an intimidating physical presence due to the dedicated transformation Vikander put herself through for the role. After seeing her here, she could well and truly cement herself as an up-and-coming action star.
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| When you're in the jungle and you find out McDonald's Monopoly is back. |
FACT: Daisy Ridley, Emilia Clarke, Saoirse Ronan and Cara Delevingne were the frontrunners for Lara Croft before Alicia Vikander was cast.
As Vikander gives it her all tempting us to want a reprisal in the future, she is joined by Daniel Wu on her expedition as the alcoholic captain of a ship she hires. Wu doesn't get to display his action capabilities we've seen from him before but the rapport his character builds with Croft and their back and forth helped add to my overall enjoyment. Unfortunately, as the third act dawns, Wu is practically benched and completely forgotten about. Walton Goggins also appears as the antagonist and leader of the Trinity task force who competes against Lara in unearthing this prestigious tomb. Goggins, who has made a name for himself playing wild and brilliant villains in Tarantino pictures, is extremely underwhelming in the role. The blame isn't necessarily put on Goggins himself but instead, the script that doesn't give him a fully realised character to work with. He's a one-dimensional, stereotypical leader of a militia-type military force with the most generic aims and motivations. Dominic West occasionally pops up but his scenes are mostly limited to flashbacks from Lara providing some exposition for the sought after tomb. On a more positive note, Uthang, through his direction, is able to achieve something that video game movies to this date have struggled with; scenes that feel as if they were ripped from the game itself. Uthang directly recreates cinematic sequences from the 2013 game (shipwreck, tomb exploration, an crashed airplane escape) and this leads into my biggest positive that I can give to Tomb Raider. Most video game movies can never find a balance between paying homage to the game it's based on and being an actual movie. Recent examples of this struggle are the aforementioned Warcraft and Assassin's Creed. Warcraft was clearly made for fans of the video game by a fan of the video game but the actual plot structure was a terrible mess. As for Assassin's Creed, it felt wildly dissimilar from the video games as it re-jigged a lot of the lore set down by the games to fit its own narrative. Tomb Raider miraculously finds that balance in being its own movie with the spirit of 2013 game burning bright within. One sequence in particular (a stealthy sneak around an enemy base) felt as if it was a cutscene of its own accord and that soon, I would have to be repeatedly smashing the X Button on my game controller. There was also an arc to Lara herself as she deals with grief and acceptance as well as her discovering her true destiny in a world that she was initially lost and confused in.
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| We'd like to thank you for choosing to fly with Ryanair. |
Tomb Raider is careening down a well trodden path in regards to plot borrowing heavily from past adventure films. Nevertheless, Vikander is the ideal candidate to drive the film forwards and possibly into future installments if the tease of sequels is anything to be believed but for once, this actually feels like a movie that is proud of its video game origins. Tomb Raider is not going to break the curse nor change the game for video game movies but if more filmmakers pay attention to this, we could soon be on course. Plus, it's fun. A lot of fun. It's not often that we get to say that in today's current climate.
My Verdict: 7/10
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