Tomb Raider (2018) – review

Video game legend Lara Croft returns to theatres for the first time in fifteen years as Swedish actress Alicia Vikander steps into the shoes of the so-called tomb raider to embark on a quest to uncover the truth about her father’s disappearance seven years ago.
Unlike the fun but farcical films featuring Angelina Jolie that came before it, director Roar Uthaug’s Tomb Raider reboot takes itself quite seriously and, despite a somewhat shaky first act involving the protagonist playing courier in London and taking part in a peculiar bike chase through the streets of the UK capital, ends up being extremely enthralling as a result.
Once the initial thirty minutes or so of slightly unsteady setup are out of the way and Lara heads off to Hong Kong to begin investigating what happened to Richard Croft, the plot becomes increasingly compelling as the eponymous heroine becomes embroiled in a series of challenging and perilous situations, with each successive calamitous occurrence being more injurious and tension-filled than the last.

Highlights include an exciting sequence on a ship in stormy waters, a suspenseful set-piece that starts with a plunge into a treacherous river and culminates in a crashed plane, and a remarkably riveting final act during which Lara is forced to face a plethora of pulse-pounding intellectual and physical ordeals, making for an absolutely exhilarating climax full of fascinating archaeological enigmas and adrenaline-fuelled action.

But no matter how much intrigue and action its script contains, a movie based on Tomb Raider would surely fall flat on its face if the actress chosen to play its iconic main character failed to impress in the part and thankfully that is not an issue here. Alicia Vikander is utterly irreproachable as Lara Croft, coming across as completely believable as an inexperienced but capable individual whose determination to achieve her objectives and realistic reactions to the dire circumstances in which she finds herself make her extremely likable and easy to invest in as the film unfolds.

Meanwhile, Walton Goggins adeptly conveys the discontent and desperation that drive chief antagonist Mathias Vogel, making him seem disquietingly unpredictable and giving rise to a genuinely tense atmosphere whenever he’s onscreen. It’s just unfortunate that the particulars of the shady organisation for which the villain works aren’t made as apparent as Vogel’s own personal motivations.

Daniel Wu also succeeds in being engaging as righteous ship captain Lu Ren, despite his regrettably limited screen time. Conversely however, the usually laudable Dominic West doesn’t manage to make much of an impact or bring much emotion to the table as Lara’s father, Richard, who ends up feeling like more of an impassive plot device than an actual human character.
On the whole though, while it’s not without its flaws, Tomb Raider is a thoroughly entertaining tale of adventure, action, mystery solving, and physical and mental endurance and perseverance that’s anchored by an arresting and impeccably performed protagonist, with some splendid cinematography and a wonderfully rousing score thrown in for good measure. Here’s hoping this is just the first of a few outings for Vikander’s Lara Croft.

Rating: 8/10.

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