Genre: Action/Adventure

Directed By: Roar Uthaug

Written By: Evan Daugherty (Story); Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Screenplay and Story); Alastair Siddons (Screenplay)

Starring: Alicia Vikander; Dominic West; Walton Goggins; Daniel Wu; Kristin Scott Thomas

Review by: Matt Schofield

I recently went to the theatres to see Tomb Raider.

For those that aren’t familiar with the general premise of Tomb Raider, it follows the story of Lara Croft. Lara is the daughter of an incredibly wealthy businessman who reluctantly gets pulled into the world of tomb raiding and relic hunting. She spends a great deal of her time in extreme danger.

There have been several Tomb Raider movies before, but the whole series (including the video game counterpart) has gone through a reboot, rewriting the origin story for Lara and even altering her character slightly.

This movie loosely follows the plot of the first game in the reboot series. Lara’s father disappeared years ago and she finds herself aboard a ship named The Endurance, heading for the Japanese island of Yamatai. This is the last known destination of Lara’s father and she heads there seeking answers and closure.

The movie was met with mixed reviews if I’m honest. Some people loved it, some people hated it. I personally really enjoyed the movie. It was lacking in a few places, but for the most part, it was a solid survival/action movie and the cast was excellent.

Lara was played by Alicia Vikander. I’ve never seen her in anything else, which might have helped me accept her as Lara, but she did an amazing job. A huge amount of physical preparation went on in order for her to be able to take on the role and it really worked. She absolutely looked the part and her accent and mannerisms really fit the character well.

Mathias, the antagonist of the movie, was played by Walton Goggins. Whilst nothing like the character of Mathias in the game, Walton also did a fantastic job. His character was easily hated but understandably driven. Mathias has been on the island for 7 years and must complete his task if he wants to see his family again.

The movie itself was easy to follow and full of enough action to keep even the most distracted viewer interested. Interspersed with snippets of Lara’s past and some minor educational scenes, it feels like an appropriate balance of action vs. plot development.

The movie was populated with several death-defying scenes taken straight out of the game, however, the final 20 minutes or so of the movie felt like they were missing a final punch. There’s a fairly slow ending which is miles away from the ending of the game and leaves the viewer wanting just a little bit more before the credits roll.

The very final scene does leave it open for a sequel though, and hopefully, some real closure can be found there.

I’ll definitely be there.