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Review: 'Tomb Raider' (2018)

Can Academy Award Winner Alicia Vikander lift the 25 year curse?

By Chris SalazarPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Nevertheless she persisted.

In 2001, Angelina Jolie starred as Lara Croft in the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider which, despite being blasted by critics (as of writing this, it currently has a 20 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes), made $131 million at the box office. In 2003, Jolie went on to star in the film’s sequel, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, which (still disliked by critics with a 25 percent RT rating) managed to only gross $65.6 million domestically. In 2018, this film, simply titled Tomb Raider so far has mixed reviews from critics (50 percent on RT) and has thus far, as of writing this, grossed $42.4 million domestically.

I actually enjoyed the Angelina Jolie films even though they are cheesy. They’re fun, over the top, and also part of the tail end of campy 90s action movies that were released until the 90s became popular again in the late 2010s (most notably 2017). Does this reboot raise the bar for video game movies?

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, Jason Bourne) stars as Lara Croft, a street courier who also trains in MMA fights who has yet to accept the fact the her missing father (played by Dominic West) might be dead. After a run in with authorities, Lara is bailed out by her guardian, Ana Miller, (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) and is coaxed into signing for her father’s inheritance. There, she discovers a clue that could lead where her father left off and decides to set sail for an adventure only to be swept by a viscous storm and wash up on the island where she meets Mathias (played by Wolton Goggins), the leader of a terroristic organization called Trinity.

The films starts off pretty well: We’re introduced to Lara and without forced narration, we get to know her character. It also brings us to a fun bike chase. This version of Lara is kind of like Angelina’s take in the early 00’s where she is an adrenaline junkie but, unlike Angleina’s version, Alicia Vikander’s take on Lara is less posh and campy and more grounded and human. She’s not a “mary sue” like Rey in “Star Wars,” which is something I admire about this film.

Before we get to the island, we’re introduced to a couple of supporting characters: Ana Miller, Lu Ren (played by Daniel Wu), and a Nick Frost cameo. I won’t go into too much detail for the sake of spoilers, but I think they could’ve given Daniel Wu a bit more to do but, then again, this is Lara’s movie. Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft carries this film. Every frame of her showcases her fierce commitment to the role. She sells the physicality of the rebooted Lara very well but, most notably, she sells Lara’s humanity as well.

There are moments where Lara gets hurt quite badly (just like in the 2013 video game) and then there’s the scene where she kills someone for the first time. That scene is one of my favorite scenes in the entire film because of how relatable she is. The set pieces are entertaining as well, even if they can be a tad goofy (for example, that parachute bit in the trailer) but fun, nonetheless. I also enjoyed the third act which, in a good (albeit silly) way, gave off some Legends of the Hidden Temple vibes.

The side characters are, well, side characters. They don’t get too much time to shine which is kind of unfortunate, especially for the aforementioned Lu Ren. Wolton Goggins is best known for playing the most bananas, crazy, and scarily over the top villains (like in FX’s Justified) however, in this film, he is completely vanilla. Mathias is a clichéd, uninspired villain and is sadly the most disappointing part of the film. The film’s second act drags a bit as well and there’s a few illogical decisions made by Lara that felt a bit out of place: when Lara decides to seek directions. Now, if you know anything about traveling, you’d know that if a group of suspicious looking people come up to saying “I can help you,” they’re probably going to rob you blind. While it does lead to a fun chase scene, it’s still kind of dumb.

Still, despite all of its flaws, Tomb Raider is the first legitimately good video game movie. Alicia Vikander is great as Lara Croft and while the script could use a punch up, the film does an excellent job at selling Lara’s humanity. I say that the bar for video game films has been raised. It hasn’t been raised too high, but higher than it was before when it was set lower by duds like 2005’s Doom and 2016’s Assassin’s Creed (which actually stars Vikander’s real life boyfriend, Michael Fassbender).

Final Rating: 7.5/10

On a side note: I didn’t get to see this in 3D (I opted for IMAX 2D instead) and honestly, I don’t feel like I was missing much.

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