REVIEW – “Tomb Raider”: A Female-Driven Raiders Rehash That Barely Breaks the Video Game Curse

by Joe Hammerschmidt

In regards to the concept of video games as a viable motion picture “genre”, the future does seem a little clearer over its connectivity to audiences. You’ll have the diehards who care so much about a franchise they’re afraid of another film version screwing up what was already a rough-around-the-edges incarnation with the smell of bad timing all over. But then there’s the more casual non-gamers shaking their heads over what of exactly a decent video game movie consists, myself. The best examples this decade were original works that only followed the motifs of a VG picture. So perhaps there is some reward and head-shaking present with the arrival of a brand new film adapted from the high-selling Tomb Raider franchise, a mere 17 years after the first attempt polarized audience, followed by a sequel which many simply rejected. Presented in this latest installment, is a tale, and perhaps a leading actress co-existing to support each other. Alicia Vikander is the new Lara Croft, and despite an inconsistent storyline, her place in the franchise is quite set in stone, as well as the games themselves.

Anyone who doesn’t remember the previous cinematic incarnation with Angelina Jolie as Lara, may be better off. That 2001 misfire, and its unnecessarily planned 2003 follow-up, while serviceable, went completely off base, and didn’t quite reflect the nature of the game series at the time. As the years have passed, consoles change, and gaming has turned more realistic, which only put a reboot under more pressure, simply not to fall to the same trap. Thankfully, we’re saved with a reasonable reboot/origin story, held safely by Miss Vikander, in an opportunity to build her dynamic acting ranger.

Miss Croft, seen as an heiress to a great fortune, wants nothing to do with that socialite lifestyle, opting instead for boxing matches and the occassional spell of debauchery. Yet when an opportunity to recover her long-lost father, Lord Richard, a courageous hunter and explorer (Dominic West), presents itself in the form of vague clues, she suddenly understands the importance of really growing up at such an opportunity, perhaps a little too quickly for the character, but it can’t always be perfect.

While on this journey, Miss Croft encounters the elusive boat owner’s son, Lu Ren (Daniel Wu), almost an accidental hero in his own right. And of course, a creepy weirdo villain confronts the two in their intended search, the rather unreasonable treasure hunter Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins), an archriver to Lord Croft.

Director Roar Uthaug (The Wave), in his first English language film delivers a few special touches to what is otherwise a rather standard action film. Much of that does rely mostly on the actors as they fight against rather stunning set pieces, and maybe an overload of CGI in those purely climactic scenes. That skeletoned rescue plane against the waterfall seen in some of the promotional spots? Mostly a CGI creation, with Miss Vikander left to separate herself from the obvious visual flaw with some scenes. With graceful moves, and a well curated vocal pattern, she accomplishes exactly that, even when it all looks the way of Raiders in its memorable scenes. Vikander presents herself a little more confidently against those deep jungle backgrounds, with a natural snarkiness one could only dream of years prior.

At the same time, the men around her, Goggins, West and Wu are all capable, supportive, even exciting to watch in their own right. The important thing being they supplanted their equals in the prior example; Goggins, so subtly rampaging over an American-accented Daniel Craig like it were a common occurance. But of course, all this acting genius (lest we leave out Kristen Scott Thomas’s minor part as the real head of Croft’s industrial pursuits) can’t quite avoid the negative truth around this Tomb Raider adventure, which really shouldn’t bother new or old viewers. This new installment is coming a few years too late for my taste; it’s all done just right, but the timing still causes it to sour just a trifle.

This is nothing more than a slight trifle of a complaint, barely enough to drag my final score down just a touch. But despite the errors, the film makes for one major win. It was still surprisingly decent, and very fun to watch, mostly due to a leading woman at her most excitable, and her most confident. The likes of which, we’ll keep dreaming of seeing more of in 2018. Miss Vikander in the title role effortlessly improves over past iterations by a wide margin, yet in the grand scheme of these video game films, it simply couldn’t come fast enough. (C+)

Tomb Raider is in most area theaters this weekend; rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and some language); 122 minutes.