A Narrow Escape From A Tomb
So, as a guy who has played nearly every tomb raider game (and finished most of them), I felt like I would be an authority on this movie but knowing I can’t have a good video game movie adaption I would also have to put all my preconceived notions aside when reviewing this movie. As I did just that, I wanted to be surprised and entertained from a movie, I thought looked a little cheap and maybe riding a little too much on the coat tales of a famous (and great) game. I left the cinema and turned to the person I was watching it with as they asked me if I liked it, my response was simple; “I would certainly see the sequel”. Now agreeing to see another is a good thing, but does that make it a good movie? Well…
Let’s start off with the story. This Tomb Raider film is based completely off of the recent revival of the franchise which is about a young Lara Croft and her origin story. Lara’s father disappeared over seven years ago and she is still dealing with his disappearance/death. Lara gives up the life she has in London to go to an island off the coast of Japan which supposedly has a fabled tomb and is also the last known location of her father.
Visually, it looked a whole lot better than I thought it would. From the trailers, it gave me the impression that it would be cheap and look cheap (like most video game adaptions) but as soon as the movie started, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a high-end film with some beautiful shots, mixed with what seemed to be high-end cinematography. This pleased me immediately and I was sucked into what else the movie had to show. The varying locations kept me intrigued but I felt that as soon as (*SPOILER*) they ended up on the island, the environment didn’t really change besides the actual tomb. Which, don’t get me wrong, was great but after a slow middle part of the film, it had almost lost me.
That brings me to my main problem and that is the flat and almost boring second act. I can’t say much without spoiling a large chunk of the film but there were missed opportunities in character development that bothered me greatly. Now I know I said I wouldn’t compare the movie to the game, and it would be unfair, the game gives you 12 straight hours to understand and have Lara develop though plenty of events. But even still, with the wasted time that the second act gives you, I felt there could’ve been more that could’ve happened. Although in saying that, the choices that the script makes, there wasn’t much else that could’ve happened, so I guess my issues are with the script choices, and those especially that affect the second act.
THAT BEING SAID!! I still thoroughly enjoyed this film and as much as the first act didn’t really do much, I still liked it and when the actual raiding of tombs happens (*SPOILERS??*) it’s a whole lot of fun. It may borrow from a few other films that also have famous archaeologists in them (Rhymes with Bindiana Scones) but that’s okay because those films are great and it’s more of a homage then plain stealing and I love those films too. The supporting cast are fun and so is the main antagonist, but I would’ve liked a bit more development from them. I feel that maybe that could happen in another movie as this one seemed a little more concerned with action. Which by the way, was good as well and the boat crashing scene actually made me uncomfortable. The CGI was also top-notch bar one part in the jungle, but it didn’t really take away from the event, so it was alright.
All of that mixed with very decent acting and good music made for a fun action movie that I would recommend you go see. I feel like its already green for a sequel and wouldn’t be surprised if that was the plan right away and if this film is any indication of quality and enjoyment for the next one, like I said, “I would certainly see the sequel”.