There has never been a great video game movie adaptation, though not for lack of trying. The release of Tomb Raider doesn’t change that sad fact, but the film might be the strongest effort yet.
I was fully expecting Tomb Raider to be an outright disaster, but the film gets a surprising amount right. Alicia Vikander is utterly perfect as Lara Croft; attitude-wise, she’s a bit like Jemima Kirke in Girls crossed with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. She’s a convincing warrior, not the kind of heroine who runs across rooftops wearing high heels. She looks solid, capable of holding her own in a fight against an eight-foot thug or jumping across a sickening chasm.
But it’s the CGI chasms that fail to convince, rather than the performer. The film is surprisingly intense for the first half hour, because we’re in the real world, using real-world physics. A breathless bike chase at the very beginning of the film is far more thrilling than it should be, given the fact there’s little to lose.
But as soon as we get to Lara’s traditional territory of tombs and jungles, the pace starts to drop, the adrenaline wears off, and the dialogue declines, from characterization to exposition. The sad switch to computer-generated backgrounds, and thus, the disappearance of physics, sucks the tension dry. The film never shows us anything more impressive than that initial bike chase scene, because it was the only action sequence that felt grounded.
There’s one sequence in particular, where Lara traverses across a rusty plane as it crumbles beneath her feet, that simply fails to engage because it looks too much like a video game, without the interactive component. There are a couple of nods to the world of gaming; explosive barrels placed conveniently close to armed enemies, and simple puzzles that must be solved in order for the door to open. One such sequence involves slotting brightly-colored gems into the correct wall cavity, and made me feel like button-mashing a controller.
I rooted for Lara to succeed, and I liked her companions, even if their dialogue felt lifted from the games. But hiring a great cast without giving them a great script feels like a frustrating waste of talent. Particularly the wonderful Walton Goggins, who has zero motivation for his character’s violent deeds, other than wanting to go home. It’s a great shame, because I’m sure his antagonist could have significantly elevated this story if only he’d had something substantial to chew on.
Tomb Raider suffers from not being dark enough. The film is stuck in an awkward place, being a family-friendly blockbuster with shades of shadow hinting at something more intense. Many of the fight sequences feel frustratingly watered down, held back by the PG rating.
And while there are a couple of laughs here and there, the film just doesn’t have the character of an Indiana Jones film. It’s not that funny and not that quirky, leaning heavily toward gritty reboot, minus the grit.
Elements of the story are interesting – there’s an intriguing twist on the supernatural MacGuffins of Indiana Jones, but the film is more concerned with setting up sequels rather than telling a solid standalone story. Like many origin stories, it’s entertaining enough, but definitely not worth a rewatch, or even a recommendation, really.
But this was a promising start, and I would be keen to watch the sequel as long as the franchise is willing to completely move away from the Angelina Jolie era and fully embrace Vikander’s talents – her Lara is a survivor, but we need to fear for her life, not watch her bounce harmlessly through CGI backgrounds.
Tomb Raider is entertaining enough, but ultimately forgettable. At the end of the film, the character feels ready to do something … more interesting. This story could be a stepping stone to a stronger, more mature sequel, a Logan to this X-Men: Apocalypse.
Tomb Raider holds more promise than any other video game adaption I’ve seen, but ultimately fails to do anything more than entertain. If she gets another shot, this iconic heroine needs to move closer to John Wick, and far away from National Treasure.
