The minute you hear a lot of noise from gun fire and explosions in an action movie, you know that’s too much. And the minute you hear certain lines, like someone being presumed dead, you’re not surprised by the twist. And I had to find them in the new reboot of “Tomb Raider,” based on the video game series, which became the Angelina Jolie movies.
Alicia Vikander now plays Lara Croft, the daughter of the businessman Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West), who disappears out at sea. She reluctantly has to sign the paperwork indicating her inheritance, following her father’s death. She then finds a key, which leads her to a secret room, filled with artifacts and a video telling her to get rid of the evidence of the whereabouts of the tomb of an ancient queen, who has the power of life and death. Of course, she has to keep the evidence, so she can find her father.
So, she travels to Hong Kong and finds a drunken sailor (Daniel Wu) to take her to the mysterious island, and they both end up in the hands of her father’s rival (Walton Goggins), who has a labor camp, dedicated to finding the lost tomb. She escapes and finally reunites with her father, but of course, we saw that coming.
There are chases scenes in this “Tomb Raider” reboot I wouldn’t mind seeing again. They involve a bike race called “The Fox Hunt,” in which the biker with a fox tail will win the prize money if Lara can dodge the other bikers. There are also young thieves who take Lara’s bag through a Hong Kong harbor, and the main bad guy’s henchmen chasing her to a river.
Other than those scenes, the movie was way too loud for me, especially when sitting in an IMAX or Dolby theater. At times, it’s dark and cantankerous, other times, there’s too much CGI, and other times, the quality makes the action scenes look cheesy.
Vikander is okay as Lara Croft. I mean, she has her moments involving fights, chases, and escapes, but this actress has done better in so many better movies like “The Danish Girl” and “Ex Machina.” And strangely enough, I did like Nick Frost’s cameo as a pawn shop employee, whom Lara deals with.
This is a standard action movie with some fun moments, but also a lot of typical things.
Keep seeing “Black Panther.”
⭐️⭐️
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