A promising reboot- Alicia Vikander is a pixel to flesh Lara Croft.
This new Tomb Raider is not the rich and privileged adventurer but a struggling daughter in denial of her father’s demise. I liked that she was introduced as flawed and when we first see her, she loses a sparing match; she becomes a character that is real and relatable.
Its interesting that Lara’s drive is her love for her father, the actual “tomb raiding” only comes in second.
When the opportunity comes to finally find out what happened to her father, who has been missing for seven years, Lara jumps at the chance, using only her wit and resourcefulness to travel to her father’s last-known destination: A fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. A story which her father often told her as a child.
The fact that the MacGuffin was not a known myth (like the Arc of the Covenant or the Holy Grail from the “Indiana Jones” films) helped keep audiences guessing what it really was until the very last second, in effect having a more exciting plot.
As Lara gets closer to finding answers to questions she’s had for seven years, the danger mounts and she comes to realize that the story she has been hearing since she was a child, is more than just a story and is becoming real every second and the threat that it represents, growths farther in its reach as the clout of a mysterious company casts its shadow in Lara’s life.
Remaining faithful to the game to which it was based on, “Tomb Raider” is one exciting ride, featuring thrilling scenes reminiscent of the game, from solving time pressured mental puzzles to running through a number of dangerous booby traps, swimming through a raging river and you know basically being the “Tomb Raider” we’ve grown up with, admired and loved, the character has been around since 1996.
7/10. The film has some plot problems, an ineffective male sidekick and a forgettable villain but despite these setbacks, Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander takes on the reins and makes the movie one thrilling ride, probably one of the best game to movie adaptations yet; its secret treasure being that there is lot of character growth for Lara Croft, which is a relief as she is more than just a “rich, sexy archaeologist”.
