Review of Tomb Raider (2018) by Ron R — 18 Mar 2018

Tomb Raider, starring Alicia Vikander as video game character Lara Croft, is a fun enough adventure movie. Lara's father vanished years ago and she is being pressured to have him declared dead and take his place at the head of the family business. But being the rebellious millennial that she is, she has been refusing to believe he is actually dead. As she is finally almost convinced to accept his death, she finds a clue to where he had gone and so the adventure begins.

The film is extremely reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Final Crusade, which is not surprising. After all, the Lara Croft Tomb Raider games have been referred to before as a female Indiana Jones. The movie hits all the beats of the old adventure serials. It has a spunky hero, eye-catching scenery, exciting action scenes, and a slimy villain. I'm not at all saying it's badly done, just that it's a typical adventure flick.

Alicia Vikander is a good Lara Croft. She carries off the physicality of the character and yet shows a certain vulnerability which makes you believe that she has to work at it. I was never bored during Tomb Raider and left the theater feeling satisfied having spent my time with it. I just hope that if it becomes a tentpole series, that they find more inventive storylines.