Tomb raider movie 2017
I liked how you could hear the catch in her voice or see tears almost well up in her eyes as she deals with moments that cause her distress. Lara has empathy for others, and feels things deeply. The bad guy, archaeologist turned corporate mercenary Mathias Vogel ( Walton Goggins), is himself an absentee husband and father. He's spent seven years trying to locate Himiko's tomb at the behest of the mysterious Trinity organization, and resents the unseen master who's keeping him on the island until he finishes the job. Paternal abandonment and its aftermath are at the heart of every character's story here. Lu Ren ( Daniel Wu), the alcoholic sea captain who ferries Lara to the island that contains Himiko's tomb, is dealing with his own daddy issues: his same-named father once ran the boat, and ultimately vanished, too, which might account for why their relationship feels more brother-sister than romantic (they obviously respect each other, but there's no sexual chemistry because the movie isn't interested in finding any). This is the story of a daughter learning from, surpassing, and ultimately forgiving her dad-a journey that hits fresher beats than you tend to get in genre films starring male heroes whose fathers died, vanished, or disappointed them (although the third Indiana Jones movie deals in these themes, too). The movie gradually fills out the details of their relationship, balancing Lara's admiration, even worship, of her father against the pain caused by his frequent absences and ultimate disappearance.
#TOMB RAIDER MOVIE 2017 FULL#
The answers are relentless speed, the strategic use of full body weight, and dirty fighting. This is not to say that "Tomb Raider" is "realistic" in any sense, because no video game movie is-at one point, Lara powers through after a puncture wound that would put a 250-pound Green Beret out of commission-but that the filmmakers and Vikander are doing everything they can to sell the physical and emotional reality of a moment.Īs written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons, there's a strong element of domestic melodrama at the heart of the tale: Lara's father went missing and is presumed dead. The movie has given a lot of thought to the question of how a small woman could successfully fight opponents who are a lot bigger and stronger. She makes you feel the physicality of this intensely visceral performance, letting out a high-pitched grunt of rage or pain when Lara crashes into a wall or gets slammed on the ground by a brawny foe, and letting sparks of fury flash in her eyes as Lara delivers a coup-de-grace. With her faintly regal bearing, she's correctly cast as a woman who's literally to-the-manor-born, but the humility and sense of fair play she exudes makes you like rather than resent the character. More importantly, she's an action hero par excellence. Seemingly bereft of body fat, Vikander hurls herself into action. I've never played the game, but I had a great time watching the movie it inspired, thanks ]to the direction the stunt choreography, which leans on real performers and props whenever it makes sense to the emphasis on problem-solving one's way out of tight spots and most of all, the actors, who flesh out archetypal characters who might have seemed cliched or merely flat on the page, and make them as real as they can, considering what sort of movie they're in.įirst among equals is Alicia Vikander. Although it borrows from the game (and, partially, its sequel) for structure and most of its key action sequences, the movie never feels like a pointless companion piece to a work that was created for a different medium.