'Tomb Raider' (2018) Review

I was first introduced to Lara Croft when I visited a friend and played Tomb Raider: Anniversary. A few days after that I caught a double bill of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its sequel Cradle of Life both starring Angelina Jolie in the role of Lara Croft.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to find the 2013 reboot game Tomb Raider. I spent several hours playing this game and I've played it many times since from start to finish—although, I have to admit; I've only managed a few of the puzzles.

All that said, I was a bit surprised when I found out that they were making another Tomb Raider film. Why? Well, that's pretty simple; the initial films weren't well-received by critics at the time. It also doesn't help matters that all the other video game adaptations we've seen—Bloodrayne and Resident Evil are probably the most recent—have largely been critical and commercial bombs.

So with all that said; what makes this adaptation so different? Well, let's find out. Oh and a quick word of warning there will probably be spoilers ahead.

The Story

The plot of the film follows the plot of the 2013 game fairly closely with a few alterations here and there.

Lara Croft goes on a journey into the "Devil's Sea" (the Dragon's Triangle in the game) to find the mythical island of Yamatai and solve her father's mysterious disappearance from years earlier.

Upon arriving and being shipwrecked on Yamatai, Lara is found by a man named Mathias who takes her hostage. When she escapes, Lara has to fight to survive and figure out what's going on.

What did I like?

I liked a lot of different things about this film. The story is fairly solid, although there are a few moments where it felt a bit forced.

The cinematography is great with some truly gorgeous landscapes to look at as the film progresses. Effects-wise, the film is pretty good; seeming to go with a 'less is more' approach and not using CGI for the majority of the work. The makeup and costumes were fantastic and I loved the soundtrack.

Lara's occasional witticism helped to keep things fun. The action scenes were choreographed and shot really well.

There were frequent references to the 2013 game with scenes basically being mirrored move by move. They can, admittedly, feel overused but it's nice to see that the filmmakers actually cared enough to put them in.

What Didn't I Like?

There were really only one or two things that I didn't like about Tomb Raider.

First off, let's talk about the film's pacing. It starts off fairly slowly but that line snaps within the first 20 minutes or so. From there it's a breakneck rush to the finish—which makes sense—but there was very little in the way of buildup to any of the confrontations or decisions in the film.

Secondly, I have to admit that initially I wasn't too much of a fan of the film's plot. Don't get me wrong; I like the film and the story is good but I was also looking forward to seeing who would play Sam, Jonah, Roth, Reyes, Alex, Whitman and Grim. The characters of the game had a fantastic rapport and I'd have liked to see that brought to life in live-action.

Finally, I really didn't care for the film's version of Mathias. He was just nowhere near as intimidating as the game's version. Part of that stems from the fact that in the game, he doesn't seem like a threat at first. He's a little kooky but it's not until later that you realize how dangerous this guy is. In the film Mathias is so obviously the villain and a threat that it takes away that edge of "is this guy a threat or just some crazy person." I was not a fan of how they tried to make him a sympathetic villain either—especially since we learn practically nothing about him except what he tells us.

Thoughts on the Casting...

I wouldn't feel right about reviewing the film without talking about the casting choices.

Alicia Vikander is really good as Lara Croft. Besides being a dead-ringer for the Lara of the game, she's got a good sense of humor and brings a level of physicality to the role which I think the previous films somewhat lacked. She has a few off moments here and there but manages to get through mostly unscathed... sort of.

Daniel Wu - who played the captain who takes Lara to Yamatai—did a fairly good job with what he was given. He and Vikander have some really good chemistry and play off of each other perfectly. Personally, I would've liked to know more about his character but that's just me.

Dominic West does a good job of his role as Richard Croft (Lara's dad) and that's basically all I can say about him.

Walton Goggins... this guy was good as Mathias but, as I stated earlier, he just doesn't seem to have that same creep factor that his game counterpart has. He tried so hard to strike a balance between intimidating and sympathetic and succeeded barely at one and failed on the other entirely. Taking into account what the filmmakers were seemingly going for and the script he had to work with; he did alright.

Final Thoughts: Fun Action Movie

I won't compare the film to its source material because they're two different mediums but I will say that the film impressed me. It has its problems, but overall this is a fun action movie—especially if you just want to waste popcorn.

This is one of those video game adaptations that stays true to its source material but makes a few changes here and there to keep audiences interested. Whether they succeeded or not is subject to everyone's individual opinions but personally I thought they did a good job and would definitely like to see a sequel.