Tomb Raider

Awesome shit! Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander is naturally gorgeous, young, battle-hardened and even though her breasts aren't like Angelina's, it doesn't matter her acting is far more impressive. The film has a very nice pacing, Lara is nice to look at and gets an incredible set of lines throughout the film that by the end I left the cinema more broken than she was. The first half is highlighted by a bike chase that is more intense than any other car chase, and an impressive shipwreck that takes your breath away with its suspense. Once Lara finds herself on the island, it's an adventure romp that takes the best of Indiana Jones while sticking beautifully to the game's template, plus a sleazy Walton Goggins playing the villain and good-guy Daniel Wu, whom I'm a little sorry he didn't showcase any martial arts. The finale will make you think of The Mummy , so those who love tombs, black magic, traps, puzzles will enjoy this film to the fullest. Well I'm thoroughly entertained, I got a nice adventure mix that hasn't been in cinemas for years and trogether with Warcraft, Lara is definitely the best game. I want the sequel as soon as possible, so feel free to go out and contribute! After a second viewing, the enthusiasm has waned slightly, but still a fine affair. 80% (21/03/2018)

A classic in a new wrapper. Bells frequently ring inside your head telling you that this is really similar to Indiana Jones, but isn’t that what we wanted, for Lara to have the DNA of an adventure classic that can be copied whenever necessary? The new Tomb Raider is undeniably the best adaptation of the video game and I hope it earns enough for a sequel. This restart of the classic video game with the busty archaeologist was the best thing that could have happened and even though the movie takes the same route, it doesn’t matter. That’s right, there are almost no surprises and no need to roll back the milometer, but that’s exactly what I was hoping for from a potential first episode of a series. The wonderfully cast Alicia Vikander is great both in her girl-next-door pose and also as a raider of lost tombs. The main villain is pleasantly believable (Goggins is great as the corporate figure with understandable motivation). Thanks to making a sure bet (in story terms), director, Roar Uthaug, could concentrate on the characters without the need of building a new world. Exotica in the form of locations in China/Japan and legends set the scene for a believable outcome (less said about that now the better) and a feeling of distance in time from the rest of the world. Angelina can go fly a kite. Looking forward to the next part. (29/03/2018)

Nice civil adventure with a pragmatic negative character “I don't want to rule the world, I just want to go home and I'll do everything for it". The movie is really well put for a dull blockbuster and “the artefact is not too supernatural." In addition, Alicia Vikander, whose physical performance (the less endowed, the more grunting and sighing) is an excellent match for Lara. However, it is spoiled by poorly selected songs, forced unnecessary story line tailored to the people of Chine / Chinese market and especially the middle part in the jungle, which is closest to the video game original, but in a movie where otherwise stuntmen and compelling action are highlighted you will suddenly watch a CGI escapade for twenty minutes. Unbelievable. Fortunately, we don´t see much of that anymore in the final CTRL + C / CTRL + V of the Indo-Indonesian last third. (01/06/2018)

The fragile character actress Alicia Vikander, whom I originally found unsuitable for the role (I wanted to see some of those well-endowed, fast-and-furious girls), makes Tomb Raider infinitely more likable and relatable. Thanks to her, the film breathes. And the first two-thirds are even intelligent, skillfully working with the interactions of the characters and their setting in an attractive environment. Before entering the final cave, however, all of the intellect somehow evaporates and the movie resorts to cheap twists, which made me drop the rating down to three stars. I also see untapped potential in the fact that the screenplay did not bring anything new into the genre, let alone its conventions. On the contrary, it stole one of the movie’s main attractive elements from The Lost World. (06/04/2018)

Next to Wonder Woman, Lara comes across as a poor relation (perhaps producers perceive gamers as a weaker audience than comic-book readers). Tomb Raider offers a total of four environments (London, Hong Kong, an island, a tomb), no spectacular action scenes with the exception of the waterfall, and basically just one (rising) Hollywood star. In the context of the efforts to create a full-fledged action heroine, however, it represents a small degree of progress. Lara Croft is absolutely believable as portrayed by Alicia Vikander, who has natural acting ability. The pair of screenwriters (Geneva Robertson-Dworet also wrote Captain Marvel) did not engage in experimentation, instead offering a traditional origin story that clearly introduces non-gamers to the world of Tomb Raider and gives gamers a satisfying portion of backstory and a number of direct quotes from the game. Lara is introduced to us by the pair of opening action scenes as a woman who does not excel through tremendous physical strength, but through her ability to come up with clever solutions to problems. In both cases, she fails anyway. It is only after she actively resolves here “daddy issues” that she becomes a strong and self-confident (though not fearless), yet relatively credibly vulnerable action heroine. One gets the impression she has always had all of her presented abilities, some of which she owes to her father (problem-solving, archery), but that she only lacked inner balance, as she had no father figure in her life. In this respect, this outwardly progressive film is terribly traditionalist (actually in a similar manner as The Last Jedi – substitute Dominic West for Mark Hamill and you get the middle part of the film). However, the family storyline, primarily presented through flashbacks at first, is incorporated well into the main narrative, driving the plot and explaining the heroine’s motivations, while helping to bridge longer periods of time when the characters are moved to a different location. When it comes to any given scene’s contribution to the narrative, Tomb Raider is above reproach. There are almost no dead spots when we would lose interest in what happens next (Nick Frost’s cameo could have been shorter, or deleted). Everything is nicely connected and all of the parts fit together, though perhaps too smoothly and straightforwardly. The action scenes are sufficiently diverse and boldly reminiscent of the video game (and demonstrate how Lara improves herself in individual areas – hand-to-hand fighting, escaping from pursuers, jumping long distances) and the pace does not slacken. Just as in The Wave, Uthaug displays flawless mastery of his craft and knowledge of the principles of classic Hollywood storytelling. Within the action genre, that is not a bad thing at all, but I hope that the sequel, for which the conclusion of this film somewhat long-windedly and too obviously lays the groundwork, will not be as exceedingly cautious. 65% (15/03/2018)