Review: Tomb Raider (2018) Is Mostly Watchable, If Somewhat Unnecessary
- Mar 15, 2018
- 2 min read
Imagine if you took Indiana Jones and sucked all the fun out. Then you'd have Tomb Raider.
7 years after her fathers death, Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) uncovers a trail of breadcrumbs that reveal his secret past. Setting out to find out what happened to him, Lara finds herself stranded on a mysterious island, alongside Lu Ren (Daniel Wu), an island on which waits Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins), the cruel leader of the shady organisation known as Trinity.
2018's Tomb Raider is, surprisingly enough, not all bad. While it's not half as enjoyable as the Jolie led films, Vikander's Lara Croft brings something different to the table. Insufferable boredom. That's a joke, mostly. The action is solid, aside from the shakiest camera work since Taken 3, and it successfully adapts the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot game. While the writing and much of the plot leaves much to be desired, and the amount a damage Lara takes leaves one somewhat detached from any threat or danger, it's never poorly done. However, as it drags on, and it really drags on, things get considerably less interesting. A totally disposable bicycle chase sequence early on is the peak of excitement, after that point, things are considerably less exciting.
Vikander does a good job of portraying this newest iteration of the character, and does the best with the limited and fairly generic script she has to deal with. The biggest letdown comes in the form of the villain. He's just a mean man. There's a clear attempt to making him something else but it doesn't stick. As such, Mr Mean Man doesn't do much except threaten Lara and shoot someone from time to time. Walton Goggins is a great actor, and he can, and has, portrayed some very fun villains, but here he either doesn't feel like going all the way, or was directed not to.
As long as films like Indiana Jones, or the first two Tomb Raiders exist, there isn't much reason to watch this movie. By no means is it bad, but it isn't quite worth the price of admission either.
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