Tomb Raider accompanies Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, as she embarks on a harrowing journey to solve the mystery of her father's disappearance. As a result of her perilous quest, Lara winds up marooned on the same island where her father disappeared seven years ago. Suddenly, the stakes couldn't be higher for Lara as she must survive against all odds armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith, and inherently stubborn spirit.
It's no secret that video games haven't quite found sure-fire success in the medium of film. There's yet to be a critical darling and very few have found fortune at the box office (Sorry, but Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Wreck-It Ralph don't count). Many have dubbed this long running streak of flops to be a "video game curse," and audiences have been eagerly awaiting an entertaining adaptation that would end this jinx and open the door for quality features based on video games. In 2016, there seemed to be hope on the horizon in the form of Warcraft and Assassin's Creed but neither proved worthy of the feat and fell flat critically and financially. Now, eyes have turned upon Tomb Raider to be the breakthrough breadwinner and I suppose you're all wondering if it performed under pressure.
After a longwinded awards season, a palette cleanser in the form of an action-adventure flick is just what one needs to prepare for stacked season of blockbusters. Thankfully, this 2018 reiteration of Tomb Raider proved up to the task! Helmed by Norwegian film director Roar Uthaug with writing credits going to Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Alastair Siddons, and Evan Daugherty, this incarnation serves as both an adaptation of the 2013 video game reboot and a reboot of the Angelina Jolie led Lara Croft: Tomb Raider series from the early 2000s. Talk about rebootception!
Even though I admittedly didn't have the highest of expectations for Tomb Raider due to never having played the game, Uthaug cleared the bar for me and delivered on the exciting action-adventure film I felt the trailers promised. Despite the unpracticality of the film's physics, there was a sense that the stakes were high and characters were vulnerable thanks to the intensity of the action. In the moment, you truly believed Lara could die at any minute because of the suspenseful situations she found herself in. Indiana Jones, The Mummy (1999), and National Treasure all come to mind as comparable franchises in terms of high stakes, enjoyable archeological action-adventure.
Again, while I haven't played the game, a lot of the situations seemed as though they were translating game mechanics anytime Lara solved a puzzle or escaped a perilous predicament, and I found that to only enhance the adventure aspect of things. In truth, this film had just about everything I wanted last year's reboot of The Mummy to deliver on.
On the flipside, the CGI was wildly inconsistent. There were certain moments with noticeable green screen (as seen above) and others you'd hardly consider to have been altered by a computer. It simply varied from occasion to occasion as is often the case with visual effects in these modern big budget bonanzas.
Of course, Tomb Raider carries the burden of some pacing problems and uneven storytelling that will leave the viewer to occasionally question why characters didn't simply act another way or do something else to get out of a troubling dilemma. On top of that, the story itself isn't all too original so some story beats come across as genre tropes or cliché in your mind. However, none of this ever compromised the film as a whole and the origin story elements were handled quite well as it's easy to see how Lara went from Point A to Point B when all is said-and-done. In fact, I was able to invest myself in Lara as a character quite quickly largely thanks to Alicia Vikander's strong showing.
If there was one hurdle this production had to get over above all else, it was the recasting of Lara Croft. While I wouldn't say Jolie's take on the character is quite iconic, audiences are more familiar with that over-sexualized version and the video game itself. As the promotional material for the film made its way online, an unfortunate issue of body shaming across the internet arose that ranged from making fun of the actress' neck to her bust size... Ridiculous... I know. Thankfully, enough internet users stood up to the plate and repelled the criticism quite maturely.
Anyways, Vikander proves to be more than up to the task of shutting down toxic fans with her committed performance. She not only underwent the necessary training and dieting to properly portray the character's athletic physicality, but took things a step further by performing a number of the stunts herself. Of course, that's all meaningless if she couldn't act... But this is an Academy Award winning actress we're taking about, and Vikander dedicates herself physically, mentally, and emotionally to the role. All in all, Vikander imbues Lara Croft with the proper balance of determination, intelligence, skill, and emotional weight to come out on top as a capable, yet vulnerable female heroine whose abilities are a bit more tempered and realistic than those of the superheroes currently dominating the cinema screens.
As an antagonist, Walton Goggins' Mathias Vogel comes across as a menacing in large part to some great acting from Goggins, but is ultimately underserved by the screenplay to be little more than a two-dimensional baddie on paper. In the ranks of supporting cast members, Dominic West and Daniel Wu do well with their sizable roles and are mostly responsible for the film's comedic and emotional beats where they each are able to excel.
While not quite the game changer many were hoping for, Tomb Raider is a step in the right direction for video game movies. Warner Bros. and Metro Goldwyn Meyer have excavated a forgotten franchise and revitalized it to be one brimming with plenty of exciting possibilities. Under the right guidance, I hope they raid this tomb for all its worth!
