Review of Tomb Raider (2018) by Wayne K — 17 Mar 2018

The movie industry continues it's run of dodgy video game adaptations with their latest incarnation of Tomb Raider, this time with Miss Croft's action boots filled by Alicia Vikander. An excellent actress in her own right, AV is easily the best thing about the film.

She plays it completely different from how Miss Jolie did back at the turn of the millennium, due to this outing being based on the 2013 videos game rather than the series from the 90s. I haven't played any of the recent ones, and so had no way to compare it, but there's a fair share of both high and low points.

The acting is good, the story is not. The action can be enjoyable, the editing never is. Many of the scenes of running and fighting are shot so poorly and edited so choppily that you'll swear you're watching a Michael Bay movie.

I appreciate the fact that there's no attempt to oversexualise Lara, and she can just be a likable lead without having to pander to drooling teens, but she's often relegated to the status of a side character, with the supporting cast given more of a central role than she ever is.

It's got a pretty good climax, and the surprise towards the end caught me off guard, but too much of the plot is convoluted and doesn't add up to a great deal. I'd watch it again if given the chance, and certainly wouldn't write it off as worthless junk.

It just feels like a lot of talent has been underutilised, and the resulting product should have been so much more than it turned out to be.