DIRECTOR: Roar Uthaug

CAST: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Derek Jacobi

REVIEW:

Hollywood has long had a hard time adapting video games to films in ways that make them equally engaging and cinematically satisfying, and while Tomb Raider (an adaptation of the long-running video game series, and a film reboot unconnected to the two past Angelina Jolie films) is more competent than Assassin’s Creed (no great high bar to hurdle), it only provides more ammunition for the argument that a video game is an inherently more interactive and engaging experience than a film based on it can be.  Tomb Raider might be the most faithful game-to-film adaptation yet, but reducing the interactivity of the game to the passivity of watching a preordained movie inherently removes a critical element.  Tomb Raider is an adequate diversion, but there’s something Point A to Point B about its generic and non-innovative narrative that dilutes the excitement. Continue reading →