Tomb Raider movie review
A good movie that lies in the shadow of the Tomb Raider
For years we’ve waited for a video game to be successfully adapted onto the big screen; is Tomb Raider the first to break this ancient curse? Not quite. It’s a fun action movie, with some heart to it and a great performance from Alicia Vikander, but it’s not really a Tomb Raider movie, especially not one based on the fantastic reboot trilogy.
The first game of the reboot series gave a simple tagline: “A survivor is born”. In Roar Uthaug’s adaption a new version of Lara Croft is born: one who is courageous, fun and likeable. But she’s not the Croft of the 2013 game. She was highly interested in the ancient mysteries and was a normal person thrown into an unmountable challenge against both nature and the supernatural. Vikander’s Lara is already competitive, athletic and sadly very dismissive of the ancient mysteries. This may portray the protagonist as slightly more relatable in a way, but it also disregards what made this character so compelling, and helps build the story of how she became a survivor. There's no sense of this Lara having to survive against the harsh conditions.
Tomb Raider mixes together the two games there’s been so far in the trilogy series. The plot of the movie is simple, but enjoyable nevertheless. A lot more time is dedicated to Lara before she sets off on her adventure, which does help show her likeable personality to the audience. Sadly the other characters in the movie display a lot less personality, with Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins) being depicted as a very one dimensional antagonist. Lara Croft’s character really could have benefited from another charismatic character to bounce off.
The stunts included are tense and are not overdone. Unlike so many terrible video game adaptions, Tomb Raider gives the action time to breathe and is all the better for it. There’s classic jumps and near-death experiences that we’ve come to expect from Croft, but with slightly less drama due to this Lara already being comfortable being athletic, and even experienced with combat fighting. Tomb Raider certainly does justice to the cinematic action of the games, but falls short in terms of the compelling story and character development within the game.
Tomb Raider almost feels like a video game adaption of a great movie. Fun action, but one dimensional side characters who offer little to the experience of the film. Alicia Vikander makes a great Lara Croft, but is sadly held back with some cliche ‘emotional’ moments and little character development written for her. Overall it’s a fun movie, but seeing as it’s so far removed from the reboot games it’s hard to say Tomb Raider is a good or bad video game adaption. It's more like a fun spinoff story.
A sequel is heavily teased at the end of the movie, perhaps linking in to the Shadow of the Tomb Raider, where hopefully Alicia Vikander will be able to be a survivor reborn.