Review

Lara Croft is a broke bicycle delivery person, that’s not great a boxing. Not quite sound like what you expected? I think that was on purpose to make her more acceptable to the social justice crowd and more relatable to the average viewer. The super rich privileged white girl is so done. This doesn’t really play out well, because it turns out she is a super rich white girl that’s is just reluctant to take her family money because her Dad disappeared seven years ago and Lara doesn’t want to sign the papers to declare him dead. As she finally goes to sign the papers, she’s distracted by a puzzle that leads her to some clues about where her father went. Lara sets off on her fantastic adventure to chase her father’s breadcrumbs.

"Tomb Raider" doesn’t shy away from its video game roots. Drawing plot and scenes directly from the 2013 adventure game, this film is more like an origin  story for Lara Croft than the previous Angelina Jolie movies. Lara is not the same character in these movies so, if you are a big fan of the previous Croft, this one may not work for you. I think Alicia Vikander does a good job portraying Lara Croft on her first big adventure. I do wonder if there were a sequel how she would do becoming a tougher and more experienced adventurer. Vikander has the graceful movement of a dancer that doesn’t quite fit the rough and tumble adventurer that Lara Croft is destined to become.

Much like the game it’s based on, “Tomb Raider” has lots of action moments where Lara has to climb, jump, and fight through. For me, someone that has played the games, the moments are great fun. They are sometimes a little over the top, but let’s face it “Tomb Raider” is in the action adventure genre and isn’t where you should go to find a realistic depiction of life as we know it. It’s where you go to see cool places, exciting action, and engrossing surround sound.

For me there is one big problem with “Tomb Raider”. Lara is on a mysterious chase with clues and puzzles, but we aren’t. Lara has to complete several puzzles throughout the film, but we usually don’t get to see how they work or get enough information to make guesses or speculate how to complete them. We see her doing the puzzles, but we don’t get to experience it with her. Getting wrapped up in the mystery and trying to figure it out is fun part of adventures. It’s missing here. “Tomb Raider” is an action adventure, not a mystery movie. Characters, particularly the villains, make some questionable choices, but these don’t hurt the flow of the film too much.

If you’ve seen the Angelina Jolie version of Lara Croft, you may be wondering how Lara Croft has been sexualized here. The answer is, not really at all. She is always dressed appropriately for her situation and there are no shower scenes or anything of the like. There is moderate course language that is sometimes cut short. Violence is where this movie gets serious. There is quite a bit of it and there is one particular death that is lingering and brutal. You also see heaps of corpses and skeletons with some nightmarish moments. 

I really like “Tomb Raider”, and would be happy to see a sequel, though I have little hope for that. I give it a 7/10. It’s a fun time if you aren’t too attached to the previous entries in the franchise, but keeps the kids away.

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