Seán here. Another day, another reboot, another Academy Award Winning Supporting Actress. And not unlike Angelina Jolie at the time, Alicia Vikander is aiming to capitalise on an Oscar with a leading role in a big star making vehicle. Vikander has an advantage compared to Jolie at this time, with some notable credits like Ex Machina and A Royal Affair to upsell her Oscar. Angelina Jolie has had one of the patchiest filmographies for anyone supposedly a mega-famous superstar. The two Tomb Raider films Jolie starred in were snoozefests, making the 2018 reboot something no one is going to be precious about, while raising the important question "why bother?"
The reason is that - at least on paper - Lara Croft is a perfect action heroine. She's independent, strong, adventurous, a gorgeous risk taker somewhere between Indiana Jones and James Bond. What puts Tomb Raider at an unbiased disadvantage is that video games to not translate well into films. None of them are good. Although the marketing campaign is off to a shaky start, let's give the trailer the benefit of the doubt.
YES
- Within the first 10 seconds Kristin Scott Thomas appears. It knows how to keep me watching.
- A gentle joke: The sheepishness of the guy behind the desk at Croft Holdings. Could this be setting us up for action adventure with a sense of fun?
- Daniel Wu as Lara's hunky sidekick. And he's in a tank top. Yum.
- Big action set pieces. From my memory of the original film with Angelina Jolie, the action sequences just didn't spark. Lara leaps from ships, jumps from the wings of planes, charges through the jungle with her bow and arrow. Vikander definitely gets to have fun doing this.
- Walton Goggins as a Southern-drawlin' villain. An ass-kicking surely awaits.
NO
- Lara Croft is so posh. Have we not reached our saturation point with cut-glass English action heroes? Vikander is one of those Scandis who learned to speak English with that accent and will sadly never be able to unlearn it.
- A KEY OPENING A DOOR. Anyone who has ever played Tomb Raider is groaning - no one wants a 90 minute action film looking for keys to open doors!
- Already the film feels paced like a video game. One task, leading to an action sequence, leading to a level boss. Rinse and repeat.
- Lara ducks and tumbles and twists as a series of nefarious booby traps come at her. It feels like there is a games controller in my hand.
- Any actress playing Lara Croft is at a disadvantage: she hasn't got the most developed personality. Sure you get to jump off things but is that enough?
- Daddy leaves a secret message to fulfill his destiny, find some kind of "amulet" surely, and save the world? Does this still seem imaginative to you?
MAYBE SO
- It's not Marvel, it's not DC. Maybe some good old fashioned perilous archeology is what we need right now?
- Alicia Vikander, while still gorgeous, is more a relatable beauty that Angelina Jolie. The action heroine we need today?
- Wonder Woman established a standard in how good female action should be, expectations will be high and they will be compared.
- They have two previous films to learn mistakes from, this wouldn't have got made if it wasn't good, right?
- Vikander's Oscar is that hackneyed tradition of giving young actors and actresses awards for being good in something. There's pressure to really make something of yourself afterwards, and if this fails for Vikander, it will fail hard.
- What is Lara Croft's feminist message? I look forward to reading her pamphlet.
The audiences for Wonder Woman were really broad, and it was bolstered by some great reviews. This Tomb Raider seems spirited, but the trailer indicates an action-adventure film in a tried and tested means, for a tried and tested audience. And this summer has shown that this formula is not a guaranteed hit. It's a solid NO.
Have your say - is Tomb Raider a right choice for a reboot and will Vikander make the role her own?