Review – Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider features actual tomb raiding.  That alone is more than the Angelina Jolie films of the 2000’s accomplished.  But this new  Tomb Raider is actually a movie I thoroughly enjoyed.  This is a wildly entertaining and fun adventure flick and far and away the greatest video game adaptation ever.

In the latest adaptation of the legendary video game series, Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) is an adventurous 21 year old with no focus in life.  After her father’s (Dominic West) disappearance, Lara is now the heir to the Croft fortune, though she refuses to accept it in hopes that her father is still alive.  When going through her father’s belongings at their estate, Lara finds her father’s research on the project that took him away from here seven years ago.  Lara then decides to track her father down using her smarts and grit, prepared for a crazy adventure that pushes Lara to become the hero she is meant to be.

Growing up I never played Tomb Raider, so I know nothing about the source material other than what I saw in the aforementioned Angelina Jolie-starring films that came out over 15 years ago.  But what this Tomb Raider does that other films didn’t, let alone any video game adaptation, is give us an origin story about our hero.  This is a movie that assumes we know nothing about Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider franchise and gives us a story about the character.  This is a fresh origin story that allows us to get to know the character and understand everything about her.  What this does is make us care.  We care about her emotional journey and we are rooting for her the entire way.  She isn’t a one-dimensional incarnation of the video game, she’s an actual character.

The character development takes place during the first half of the movie, which includes a few action sequences here and there.  But the final half of the film is where all the action comes in and boy, is it awesome.  A CGI thrill ride that will have you on the edge of your seat with a huge smile on your face.  The best sequences take place after they enter the cave, which legitimately plays out like a video game, where our characters have to pass “levels” in order to get to their final destination, where more chaos awaits them.  It is a blast to watch these scenes and these only work because we are invested in the characters and stakes that are introduced and established in the first half of the movie.  This is what good storytelling looks like and the affects it has on the entire movie.

Much of the movie’s credit has to go to star Alicia Vikander.  The Oscar winner kicks some serious ass in this movie and is the main reason why Lara is such a rounded character.  She gives her a personality and conveys Lara’s determination, intelligence, and physicality all in one.  She may not look exactly like the video game character, but this is a new action heroine I can’t wait to see more of.

We also get a solid, sincere performance from Dominic West as Lara’s father.  And Walton Goggins crushes it as the menacing bad guy.  He recites his dialog with absolute terror and even just a look is threatening.  Goggins, a well-known T.V. actor, is becoming one of cinema’s best character actors.  Everything he is in intrigues me and this is yet another stellar performance to show his talent.

Sure this movie has some cheesiness, but I had a blast with it.  Tomb Raider is the greatest video game movie ever thanks to a ferocious performance by Alicia Vikander, exhilarating action, and a great back story.  Take note future video game adaptations: this is the new gold standard.

Did you see Tomb Raider?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.