Video game films have a talent for often being phoned in. It’s not hard think of movies disappointing their fans as characters are completely changed, plots are nonsensical, and overall the effort seems lacking. If one thing can be said about the new take on TOMB RAIDER, its that there was clearly love poured into the picture. From the sets, the costume design, to specific sequences that are made to emulate the feel of the video games and draw on them as a basis for the entire film. As a movie, that means good and bad, as some sequences do not transfer well, and much feels like bloatware.
To give example, the first 20 minutes are spent introducing Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) and her life living in London. She is mainly introduced through boring sporting events to give basis to her feats throughout the rest of the film. In a video game this would be a tutorial adept at keeping interest simply by existing to teach players the rules, but in movie form they come off as trite. Another key aspect of the game that doesn’t translate is the puzzles. Movies like NATIONAL TREASURE were able to walk us through all the puzzles, keep them fun and interesting and always on screen in front of us. For some reason, director Roar Uthaug chose to capture the spirit of the franchise through Japanese puzzle boxes, in which we often just see Lara turn random dials and trust she figured it out.
Where the film excels is in it’s action sequences, specifically those focusing on Lara. Watching her be carried in rough waters toward a waterfall, hands tied, and yet somehow escape each scenario… death around each corner for 20 straight minutes of jumping, diving, and fighting… it is thrilling. In a similar vein, a viscous camera track as she creeps around the enemy base, restricting our vision to only a single slow-moving frame behind Lara, well captures the feel of a video game.
Alicia Vikander performs well, but it is not up to par with her other work. That is probably also attributed to the cheesy nature of the flick, but it is never a problem. Walton Googins is thoroughly charismatic as usual in his role as the villain, and Daniel Wu is likable, the latter deserving more screen time. On note of his character, all his lines seemed to be ADR, and was distracting as his voice boomed over everything else. The plot is full of the expected action adventure cheese. Long lost fathers, secret all powerful organizations, special hand signs of love, a secret tomb whose secret must never be opened. It all works if you are familiar, and okay with suspending your disbelief for a less than serious action extravaganza, and that sums up the tone of the entire film as well.
