This Week's Review: "Tomb Raider"

It has been a while since I have seen a film that was thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end, and, to be honest, I had no such expectation for the new version of “Tomb Raider.” I have very few memories of the 2001 version with Angelina Jolie and Daniel Craig, but this film actually makes Lara Croft interesting.

The film is almost non-stop action; our plucky heroine could easily be a long-lost daughter or sister of Indiana Jones. The plot also shows that the screen writers have studied the Indiana Jones film very, very closely. The terrorist group opposing our heroine seems very similar to James Bond’s old sparring partner, S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

The tomb about to be raided is that of an evil Japanese empress whose followers buried her where no one could ever find her; that’s a change from the Egyptian threats of recent vintage, but her “forbidden island” is very similar to King Kong’s Skull Island. The ending makes it very clear that a new franchise is emerging.

I have never seen Alicia Vikander before, but she makes the heroine interesting and credible; she is much better than Angelina Jolie ever hoped to be. The only other cast members I recognized were Derek Jacobi and Kristin Scott Thomas.

If there is one flaw, it is a tendency for Lara to get out of every dilemma by leaping across a massive chasm and finding something to grab. A little variety should prove beneficial.