As video game adaptations go, Tomb Raider is better than Assassin’s Creed.
I’m thinking that I’m a video game movie apologist. It seems that when I watch a trashy video game movie adaptation, I end up finding several reasons to enjoy them. Warcraft is a guilty pleasure of mine because of how well done the orc storyline was. And now I get to add Tomb Raider to that list. Of two.
A lot of people I spoke to about this movie always bring up the point that the sets are all CGI. I found this to be untrue. There are quite a bit of CGI but most of it is for the wide shots of epic scenes and set pieces. Most of the stunts and actions sequences take place on real sets and locations. My favorite scene was the escape scene that goes on and on for so long and was tense and enjoyable throughout. This scene was a combination of CGI and real sets that worked.
What made these scenes and this movie work was Alicia Vikander, who is one of my favorite actress’ today. Her appearance in Jason Bourne made that movie tolerable. Her performance made Ex Machina and now she’s Lara Croft, an iconic video game character. Everything about her makes this movie enthralling. She’s tough, she’s funny, she’s sympathetic. I found myself ignoring most parts of the movie that didn’t have her in it. The rest of this movie is so derivative it became distracting.
The second I walked into the theater, I knew exactly the story beats the movie would get to. There was nothing about the movie that surprised me or did anything different. Everything went on a very predictable, very derivative path. It made me think of better adventure films that I could be watching instead. While most of the ending felt like Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, I was still invested in the film. Again, this was because of Alicia Vikander. I will always say that she makes the movie and she made this film enjoyable to me.
I walked in this movie with low expectations. That’s why I enjoyed this movie. It’s not a movie that is going to ‘wow’ anyone and I thought it was a solid movie. At the end of the day, I enjoyed this movie, even if there’s nothing interesting about it.
Tim Lilly 