‘Tomb Raider’ Review

Surprise! Tomb Raider is exactly what you thought it would be—though, unlike the Angelina Jolie films of yesteryear, slightly better. And we mean slightly.

We follow a young Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander of Ex Machina), the heiress of a massive fortune who has turned her back on her trust fund in favor of underground bicycle races and working hard. Whatevs. Her dad (Dominic West, who is crazy-handsome) has been missing for seven years in search of answers about the afterlife, or more specifically, an ancient Japanese queen who was sent to an uncharted island to die because she was evil and stuff. Seven years is just long enough for Lara to quit all the daydreamin' and take over the family company and fortune.

Ruh-roh, though, because she begins uncovering clues to her father's actual life, that of amateur archaeology enthusiast who clearly didn't love her as much as he claimed. Lara takes off looking for answers, is swept up in a whole bunch of tomb raiding and ledge-leaping and secret society nonsense and, all the while, learns a thing or two about what kind of Croft she really is.

Those who played either of the recent Tomb Raider reboot games from developer Crystal Dynamics will find a mishmash of their narrative elements wrapped up in a package that's far more akin to a gaming experience than actual film. That's not a bad thing per se, but as far as genre movies like these go, a new identity could have been interesting. Director Roar Uthaug (whom you don't know, we promise) even throws in subtle nods to gaming mechanics, such as how Lara climbs on shit, her love of the bow and arrow and ridiculous ancient puzzles that surely could never have been created by anyone without an advanced engineering degree.

Indiana Jones this ain't, especially in its accelerated pacing, faceless villain Mathias (a reference to the villain from the 2013 video game, though far less dimensional despite actor Walton Goggins' best attempts) and painful attempts at at comic relief, all of which fall flat. Whatever. Even worse is having to watch master actors like Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius) sit on the sidelines with roles so meaningless they make Denholm Elliott in Last Crusade look like a commanding and vital performance.

Whatever. People still get shot, things still get blown up and Vikander still scrambles around coming into her own, right up to the last few moments with Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) for some reason—moments that scream "Maybe we'll try better for a sequel, but you already paid, so …"

5
+Actually considers the source material
-Not a whole lot actually happens

Tomb Raider
Directed by Uthaug
With Vikander, Goggins and West
Regal, Violet Crown, PG-13, 118 min.

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