Review of Tomb Raider (2018) by Teddy F — 26 Mar 2018

Tomb Raider is a step in the right direction for video game movies, although a rather minor step; the movie plays it safe, avoiding being either dreadful or great. At least I can say it was mildly entertaining.

A decade has passed since Angelina Jolie portrayed Lara Croft and now someone new is taking a stab at the role - Academy-award winning actress Alicia Vikander. Vikander gives the character a higher degree of authenticity; each grunt and scream that follows her colliding with a tree or doing something else dangerous actually sounds like it is coming from the actress. The sounds are not masculinized to obvious falseness and make Croft appear the vulnerable young women she is. Vikander's Lara still has the high-level of courageousness and toughness of the traditional character while still appearing genuine. It is Vikander's portrayal of Lara Croft that is the standout element of the film; the movie focuses less on the sex appeal of the character and more on the heroism she possesses. Walton Goggins plays the villain, "Mathias Vogel." While his performance is fine, there are flashes of intensity and intimidation from him here and there, the character himself is as bland as they come. Vogel is no more than the "gun-toting psychopath" the movie describes him to be. To call him a villain is even a stretch as the only true intention he has is far from evil since all he wants to do is leave the island and get home to his family.

With a weak antagonist and an uninspired origin story, the film is both plain and forgettable. Lara Croft heads out to an island where she believes her father vanished, runs into a guy that likes to shoot people, and has to stop him from getting his hands on a supernatural tomb or else there will be astronomical consequences. It sounds like something you would get out of an Indiana Jones flick. However, Indiana Jones was great because its characters made the sometimes-cheesy plots entertaining. In Tomb Raider, there is only one significant driving force, and that is Lara Croft herself. The side characters lack value and as mentioned earlier, the antagonist does little to push Croft forward. Daniel Wu might have had a chance as a side character if he had been given a reasonable amount of screen time. The story and movie suffer from these faults.

The latest Tomb Raider reboot is two hours long and yet only feels one-and-a-half; time flies by fast. The action scenes are cool no matter how exaggerated some may be. There is almost never any downtime. If the scene is peaceful one moment you can bet that something will happen to change that. I had a fine time watching Tomb Raider and believe if the writers can get a little more inspired there is value in creating a sequel and continuing the newest form of the franchise; but based on what I saw, I can't help but call Tomb Raider merely average.