![]() ![]() When the beloved James Bond series decided to reboot as a grittier, darker franchise starring Daniel Craig, it did so by reinventing Bond as a more complex character - one who wasn’t quite so sure of himself, who had to grow into the job, who we saw grapple with his own insecurities. And yet, despite its boilerplate narrative, Tomb Raider delivers real edge-of-your seat tension and fun action sequences, thanks mainly to Vikander. What transpires next is exactly what one would expect. Instead she sets off to find out what really happened to him. Signing would mean that she has given up on her father ever returning home from a failed expedition to a remote island seven years earlier. This iteration of Tomb Raider does its best to overcome its past.Īlicia Vikander is absolutely up to the task of playing the neophyte version Lara Croft, a plucky, head-strong young woman determined to bootstrap herself through life as a bike courier rather than sign legal papers giving her the Croft family fortune. My knowledge of the video game begins and ends with the debate over Lara Croft’s ridiculously rendered breasts. My faint recollections of the early-Aughts Angelina Jolie-led Tomb Raider films are of some preposterous plot contrivances and over-the top set pieces that, though entertaining, weren’t quite clever enough to be camp. That said, what I know about the history of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft can be contained on the head of a pin, which is perhaps why I rather enjoyed that this reboot is an origin story. But then again, why not reboot Tomb Raider? It’s not exactly sacred canon. We often hear critics and audiences griping about “yet another reboot”, and I am usually among them. Which is to say, Tomb Raider is average – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s the type of film you catch while flipping through the channels on a lazy Saturday afternoon and decide to watch it at least until the next commercial break. This isn’t the type of film you’d go out of the way to see on the big screen more than once. ![]() Tomb Raider isn’t aspiring to be anything other than two hours of fast-paced action with some solid performances from a talented cast. There is a comfortable predictability to this type of action film that isn’t trying too hard and knows exactly what it is. Much like a stand-in, Tomb Raider delivers precisely what is expected of it – no more, no less. You help the crew assure that everything runs as planned, minimizing any real surprises when the cameras start rolling. You literally stand in for star Alicia Vikander so the crew can get the technical aspects of the shot down before calling action. It’s not a glamourous role, but an important one. You have the kind of film job that has yet to be replaced by CGI. ![]()
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