Film Review: ‘Tomb Raider’

Swedish actress and Oscar Winner, Alicia Vikander takes on the role of Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider. She managed to put her acting skills to use in this action movie. In this version of Tomb Raider, the way Croft is portrayed changes the initial mindset of Jolie’s version of Croft. Instead of sexualizing the character like its previous films, Vikander’s Croft focuses on her fitness. She’s a speedy cyclist, kick-boxer and archer. Though petite, her strength should not be underestimated.

In this movie, there are some action-packed scenes. Though some are memorable, some are dull. In the beginning of the movie, a frenetic bicycle chase managed to catch audience’s attention. The scene made this movie a not-so-typical video game movie, bringing audience back to the reality we are living in.

One scene that got audience feeling nervous is when Croft almost falls down a waterfall and tries to save herself by clinging to an abandoned rusty airplane that is breaking down. The action scenes in the movie may be thrilling, but there was a lack of fear that she might die, therefore losing tension from the audience. Though there are good scenes, the scene where Croft’s bag was snatched in a marina was a little extra, making the movie draggy and boring.

In the movie, Croft comes from a wealthy family but she refuses to take her inheritance as she refuses to believe that her father is dead after missing for 7 years. She discovers a puzzle from her father and decides to go on a quest to look for her father in an island called Yamatai which houses the tomb of Queen Himiko, an evil Japanese empress.

Vikander’s Croft is more human and can be seen when she kills for the very first time. Instead of feeling like it is not a big deal, Croft is completely in shock and horrified. This made it realistic as the movie took a moment to focus on how she is feeling after the incident and we are able to see how the death weighs on her.

The film’s weakest element is its action plot. After a long journey and only upon reaching the ending of the movie, Croft reaches the tomb. The movie spent a long time to introduce Croft and her past that the scenes where Croft finally enters the tomb are rushed in the ending. The ending is disappointing as they used a long time to build up the story where you were left expecting something huge to happen after the tomb is unleashed, but it ends up being dull and boring as it does not meet up to our expectations.

Although it took a long time till they reach the tomb, it was nice that Norwegian film director, Roar Uthaug spent some time building up Croft’s character, helping audience to know and understand Lara Croft before becoming an action hero. Overall, it is not an amazing movie, but it is worth a watch.