There is no greater context, you feel emotionally connected to the here and the now. Tomb Raider isn't emotionally deep in the conventional sense of the term, but the constant state of urgency and immediacy Lara is caught in once she reaches the island of Yamatai is reminiscent of how video games make you empathize with their character. Without ever calling attention to itself, there was nods to every gameplay mechanic of a Tomb Raider game throughout the movie: breathtaking platforming sequences (which a scene I believe was swiped from an Uncharted game), firefights with a cover system, puzzle solving, boss battles, etc. So, Tomb Raider captures the kinetic joy of playing a video game better than anything I've seen in movies. That lead him to Queen Himiko and the forbidden island of Yamatai, which might offer answers to young Lara. A puzzle he left behind leads her to a hidden study of his, where he lived a secret life: stricken by grief after the death of his wife, he searched the world for proof of another realm, so he could be with her again. A young, restless and seemingly orphaned Lara Croft ( Alicia Vikander) is looking for her father Richard ( Dominic "Jimmy McNulty" West) who mysteriously disappeared seven years ago. Tomb Raider is loosely adapted from the 2013 video game of the same name, which is more or less of an origin story. It's one of the best video game adaptations I've had the pleasure of seeing, but it's still filled with problematic choices. Does the new adaptation starring talented and gorgeous Alicia Vikander get the job done? One of the most successful video game adaptations that direly needed a contextualized reboot was Tomb Raider, a fantastic game series who's tone dramatically changed in the midst of the gamergate and #metoo eras. Their track record obviously isn't great, but there is still a world of unexploited intellectual properties with built-in audiences that scream "PROFIT" out there, so they're not going to stop. Read the whole review at hasn't given up on turning a profit off video game adaptations. Unlike last week's A Wrinkle in Time, which didn't necessarily work as a whole, but was at least trying to do something fresh and innovative with the material it was based on Tomb Raider instead works as a coherent whole in terms of style and tone, but does nothing with these features to accentuate them in any special or meaningful way. Naturally, there are layers and bad guys along that way that make this journey a little more interesting or at least a little more dramatic, but it no matter how much Tomb Raider wants to feel like a fun adventure tale it is far too gritty and routine for its own good. Why someone would want to seek out much less break open the tomb of an ancient spirit that was capable of killing people simply by touching them is beyond me, but that is the quest we're sent on and the tomb we're meant to raid and so that is what unfolds. Once our titular protagonist gives into the life she was always meant to have, despite who she was when trying to make a living on her own accord being more interesting, Croft is quickly swept off to Hong Kong and then to the next level, I mean act, of the movie where we continue to go through stage after stage of Croft getting closer and closer to her end goal, which in this movie, has something to do with an ancient Queen that was said to command the power over life and death. The more reliable and realistic visual effects become the easier it will be to lean on them and while this seems to have become more and more apparent over the last few years it seems especially glaring when the source material for an effects-laden blockbuster is that of a fully digital world. It is when the movie goes from slyly intriguing to full-on what the target demographic expects from a Tomb Raider movie that most of the intrigue disappears and what we're left with is a series of action sequences that look like the actual video game that inspired the movie. There is a constant back and forth as one experiences the final product given there is real promise in what is essentially the entire first act as the viewer gets to know this younger, more inexperienced Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) and the mysteries surrounding her father's disappearance as well as the issues she has been working through as a result of such. isn't necessarily bad, but it is pretty bland. The newly re-booted and freshly grounded Tomb Raider from Warner Bros.
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