'Tomb Raider' Review

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!

Film Assessment: B

'Warcraft' Review

Warcraft is a fantasy film based on the longstanding Warcraft franchise, which includes most notably the popular MMORP games, novels, and other media. I have never played a Warcraft game and I'm unfamiliar with it's expansive world so keep that in mind throughout this review. 

Warcraft tells the story of two worlds converging as the orcs must flee their dying world of Draenor and find a new home while humans must take up arms to defend their home world of Azeroth from said orcs. From the lengthy plot description alone, it's evident that this film had an agenda to simultaneously establish this fantasy world cinematically while attempting to set the stage for sequels, an evident issue with many recent comic book movies including The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Iron Man 2, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and X-Men: Apocalypse.

I can say Warcraft succeeds in fulfilling this endeavor, but at the expense of this film's quality, utilizing a "shot-gun approach." Meaning, Warcraft has a narrow scope in terms of restricting the audience's immersion into the world with a wide spread of characters, breaking basic plot structure by eliminating the lead character and following at least six major characters through their various points of view. 

In comparison to another fantasy film based on a property beloved by many, The Lord of the Rings, Warcraft never focuses on one key character or central protagonist like The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring centers on Frodo Baggins, which is obviously an issue. On the bright side, this allows viewers to become familiar with multiple characters and their philosophies but leaving the viewer confused as to who is good and bad in this fantasy, thankfully this feeling of confusion settles towards the end of the film. 

As I said earlier, Warcraft restricts the expansive world to a few key locations and actions set pieces and as an audience member I felt the borders of the sandbox since there were some areas of the world that I want to see further explored but I guess that will come in a sequel if a Warcraft sequel is indeed green lit, although the likelihood of a sequel is strong given Warcraft's international box office performance and strong numbers from China. 

Duncan Jones directs with Warcraft being his first enormous budget endeavor after his smaller films Moon and Source Code, and while I haven't seen either film, I've heard nothing but praise for them. One nitpick of mine derives from the film's editing that would jump elsewhere as soon as I settled into a scene. Literally right when I would become invested in ongoing events, the film would cut and pick up another character's story and while I understand some of the logic behind it, it did hinder my experience. 

Aesthetically, Jones and his team of visual effects artists, motion capture actors, and production designers create an incredible gorgeous world effectively balancing the tricky stability between practical sets and CGI that seemed true to the world while appropriately bringing the sense of massive scale to the epic confrontations between humans and orcs. 

The action sequences are without a doubt entertaining, but none are quite as memorable as those to be found in The Lord of the Rings. I'll do my best to avoid any more comparisons between the two from this point on. 

On the subject of visuals, I really took to Jones' depiction of magic as the effects for them looked awesome and felt unique and fresh as opposed to Harry Potter's sleek fast wand bolts and The Lord of the Rings' paranormal approach, Whoops did it again, but at least this time it was a more positively skewed comparison. Here's to hoping Marvel's upcoming Doctor Strange can deliver on that as well! The sound design and underlying wondrous epic score composed by Ramin Djawawadi service the visuals superbly and fits the world like a glove, not game changing but I felt they were worth mentioning. 

Jones and Charles Leavitt devise a screenplay that's surprisingly not exposition heavy, ignores tropes of the fantasy genre, and invokes some bold creative choices that payed off in the end. However, when forced to expunge a film from the script, Jones failed in making the first act of the film accessible to casual moviegoers. I was lost for a good thirty minutes of the movie and was confused as to what characters were doing, where they were going, and why they were doing such and such. 

And this is coming from a fan of fantasy films, so I'm sure someone who has never heard of Warcraft would be even more bewildered. The confusion derives from a very complex story with lots of moving parts and characters that I'm sure WoW (World of Warcraft) players are already familiar with but are never fully explored for those new to the franchise. While I did criticize the intricate convoluted plot, I will say the filmmakers were bold in regards to creative decisions even going as far to kill off some seemingly crucial characters, a decision that certainly implies the stakes are sky high in this fantastical world. On the flip side, it was difficult to care about these deaths as I wasn't emotionally invested in many of these characters. In large part to the awful acting to be found in the film. 

Don't fret though as there are a few bright spots to be found in the film's cast that I will get to, but across the board there were some dreadful casting decisions made. This casting director should probably be fired in all honesty. I'm going to start positively by praising Toby Kebbell who delivers without a doubt the standout performance as the orc Durotan, and one of his best motion capture performances yet, a great followup to his turn as Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Andy Serkis better watch out, because Kebbell may be up for stealing his spot as the motion capture king. Kebbell manages to humanize Durotan and even make him a relatable character that I was emotionally invested in thanks to the character's path in Warcraft. 

Beyond Kebbell, the other motion capture orc performances were fine and serviced their respective characters well but didn't match the gravitas Kebbell brought by extrapolating human qualities from the least humane character. Anna Galvin comes close as Draka, Durotan's wife, by actually helping to bring out Durotan's humanity in their personal moments due to the great chemistry from the mo-cap performances. Robert Kazinsky and Clancy Brown both make for efficient orcs serviceable in the capacity used as Durotan's right hand orc Orgim Doomhammer and the fearsome war chief Blackhand respectively. 

Last but not least for the orcs is Daniel Wu as the orc warlock Gul'dan who seeks to claim Azeroth with his dark magic. Wu makes Gul'dan come off like Emperor Palpatine but with some surprising physical force to back him up as both a physical and magical threat and in that capacity did just fine. It's only fitting as I transition out of the orcs I next discuss the middle ground as Paula Patton portrays a half orc slave Garona. 

Patton is just fine as Garona, and her dialogue's a bit hard to comprehend thanks to her tusks (I believe that's what they are) but I did find Garona's arc to be intriguing and would love to see it continued onward as her character is left in a complicated situation that points to potential peace between humans and orcs down the line. Patton is okay in the role but from this point onward it's clear that better actors could have been found. 

On the human front, the line delivery is stale amounting to a lot of monotonous line delivery devoid of emotion, it's as if the actors were literally forced to recite their dialogue in robotic fashion. I have no idea if this was due to some communication barrier between the actors and Jones, poor direction on his part, or just poorly cast actors trying their best but regardless of where the problem stems from, it's something that can't be ignored. Travis Fimmel plays Stormwind Knight Anduin Lothar and I can say he fills the action capacity nicely, but lacks in regards to his emotional reactions to a few significant events. I can't quite discuss that point as much as I'd like without spoiling the film but I'll say he didn't react to a certain death the way any other emotional human being would by screaming in anger or frustration or even appearing to be saddened by the occurrence. 

Ben Schnetzer portrays the mage Khadgar, and looked cool while casting spells, but seemed out of his element in regards to acting. He had many awkward moments that were unintentionally humorous so I guess if you really want to defend his acting say he'd be a great comedian. 

Ben Foster brings another mage to the big screen as the Guardian, Medivh, and seemed too young to be believed as a wise magic mentor so I think the casting department skewed too young here but Foster is serviceable in the role. 

Dominic Cooper is an actor that I enjoy, as I like his portrayal of a younger Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger and Agent Carter, but he is tragically miscast as the king of Stormwind, Llane Wrynn. He too seemed a bit young for the role as I think of kings to typically be aged and rugged, although a case can be made that they had to start ruling at some point and I guess this was the beginning of his rule? Cooper isn't bad.. actually making for a serviceable young king, but rather comes across as miscast more than anything. 

Yes, the acting is bad as a result of uninspired casting choices and there are story flaws, but the film makes up for it with technical elements. The world of Warcraft is one brimming with visual splendor that unfortunately suffers from choppy editing, a convoluted plot, and some truly atrocious acting to make for a bloated fantasy epic. 

Despite my mixed reaction to Warcraft, I can say I think a sequel is at least warranted based on the groundwork laid and hopefully can improve in the areas which Warcraft falters. Hardcore WoW fans will love Warcraft and those with a soft spot for the fantasy genre will be able to walk away admitting they had a good time, but if you don't fall into either of those categories, this isn't the summer blockbuster for you. When it comes down to it, Warcraft certainly isn't as bad as the 27% Rotten Tomatoes score makes it out to be, but it's not great either.

Film Assessment: C+