Review of Tomb Raider (2018) by Player2-Water — 29 Mar 2018

E-Value: 7.

Acting: 6.

Plot: 5.

When it comes to a movie based on video games such as Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed and Street Fighter, they always tend to get very negative responses from both critics and audiences but in this case, I felt this movie did much better than any previous video game movies. Unlike the first two movies starring Angelina Jolie, this instalment is based on the 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot.

Lara Croft (Vikander) is introduced as a bike courier following the disappearance her father, Lord Richard Croft (West), seven years ago. After learning from her father’s business partner that she will inherit her family’s vast fortune, she discovers her father’s research about Himiko, the mythical Queen which said she could command the power of life and death. She decide to investigate her father’s disappearance despite being told (via pre-recorded message) to destroy all of his research.

After hiring Lu Ren (Wu) a ship captain in Hong Kong, they travel to Yamatai where her father’s last known location but they were separate from the sea storm. They were then capture by Mathias Vogel (Goggins), who led the expedition to search for Himiko’s tomb. Lara, along with Lu Ren and other prisoners are forced to help Vogel to search for the tomb while she has to stop Vogel and his mercenaries to find the tomb and investigate her father’s disappearance to save the world.

In comparison to Angelina Jolie’s take on Lara Croft, Alica Vikander definitely fits her role of the character and even bears a close resemblance to her video game counterpart and less fanservice of the character. All of her stunts are done by herself instead of relying on stunt double which I find it very impressive. Her acting is good as well.

In terms of the plot, I would say is just mediocre and could have been a little better but it still makes a good action-adventure film and I can see the efforts of trying to make this movie closer to the video game. Overall, I can say this is currently the best video game movie. If you are a fan of Tomb Raider video games, give this one a try.