Old wine in an ancient bottle: Tomb Raider movie review

Old wine in an ancient bottle: Tomb Raider movie review

TOMB RAIDER

English (UA)

Director - Roar Uthaug

Cast - Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Kristin Scott Thomas

Rating - 2.5/5

While watching the latest instalment of the Tomb Raider franchise, I couldn't' help but sense deja vu. And there, I see in sepia coloured flashbacks, several action-packed, coming-to-age, video-game inspired, treasure hunting movies I watched growing up.

Yet Alicia Vikander, as the Tomb Raiding Lara Croft, compels the audience to hope that the feeling of repetition is only because it is an origin story. The actress does her best to keep the watchers hooked and the performance does help to keep the video-game-inspired movie interesting.

The film begins with an independent young Croft, who works as a courier delivery girl for a living. She is just not ready to live with the family wealth that her adventure-seeking father (Lord Richard Croft played by Dominic West) left for her. By the way, we already know he is alive.

Because Lara sets out on an adventure to find him. With a drunk sailor, Lu Ren Jr. (Daniel Wu), who the makers want to portray as a lost-yet-intelligent man. But the actor can hardly do anything with the two-dimensional character he has to play.

We are then introduced to the villain, Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins) who is working for the 'Trinity.' Vogel and his henchmen, who are are on the same island where Lara's father disappeared from. They are after the tomb of a Japanese goddess of death to unleash its 'wrath' in order to take over the world.

No prizes for guessing who saves the world.

All said and done, the movie is filled with visual effects that are engaging. A scene where Lara is headed to the island and battling the ocean is well made. The fighting sequences are fun to watch and we also get to witness an emotional Lara after her first kill. If you are a fan of Indiana Jonesesque movies with a bit of history and puzzle solving, you might just enjoy the Tomb Raider.

The movie ends with a promise of more adventures with 'Patna' in the frame. We know not of the future, but this movie was just old wine in an ancient bottle.