Film Review: Tomb Raider – Guildford Odeon

Published on: 17 Mar, 2018
Updated on: 17 Mar, 2018

By Dennis Harvey-Hepherd

This is the re-launch of the Tomb Raider franchise with a new, fit for 21st century, Lara Croft.

Gone are the pneumatic charms of the video game Lara and the superwoman Angelina Jolie.

We now have a hero in the mould of GoT’s Arya Stark or Star Wars’ Rey.

Alicia Vikander’s performance alone raises this from just another high adventure into the story of a real human being struggling with circumstances that would defeat most of us.

Unfortunately, she is surrounded by cardboard cut-out friends and villains who add nothing to the story.

I enjoyed the early scenes, shot in and around London and Hong Kong, that were beautiful, exciting and totally believable. The later scenes descend in the now over familiar CGI scenery and perils.

These could have been from any number of similar films and require a great effort of imagination to accept.

I am sure that this film will appeal to the less jaded cinema audiences, especially young women, who have traditionally been unrepresented in such dramas.

For that reason, I have raised my assessment to give this film 4 out of five stars.