![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() To get there, she enlists the help of a hard-drinking boat captain, Lu Ten (played by the wonderfully dry Daniel Wu) and they chart into the tumultuous seas in search of a mysterious island. Just as her pen is about to hit the paper, she receives a puzzle that includes a key and a riddle to essentially unlock much of her dad's research into the supernatural this soon has her heading out to Hong Kong in search of a legendary Japanese demoness. She stands to inherit millions from her adventurer father, but in order to do so, she must sign papers to officially declare that his four-year absence means he is dead and not merely missing. We meet Lara before her first big adventure, when she is eking out her existence as a London bike messenger. Much of the hindrance is the need to establish exposition. The Indiana Jones shadow still looms large over the project, so it comes just short of establishing its own right to exist. It certainly presents audiences with the most competent, thrilling film to date based on the games, and it is oh-so-close to becoming a solidly entertaining yarn of its own distinction. ![]() Which leads us to this latest "Tomb Raider" film, starring Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander as the lead and employing an artsy up-and-coming director (Roar Uthaug) to lead the charge. The game was a hit and spawned three additional titles in the newly restored franchise. Perhaps taking cues from the popular "Hunger Games" series, Lara was re-envisioned as a scrappy, realistically proportioned lead who was tenacious but vulnerable. The earliest versions on the game (first released in 1996) presented a curvaceous, buxom heroine dressed more for a beach volleyball game than an intrepid jungle adventure. In 2013, the video game on which it was based received a major overhaul, and a decidedly different Lara. But when the pic tanked at the box office, future installments were wiped off the table. It spawned an awkwardly titled sequel – "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of LIfe" – in 2003, which was marginally better (thanks to veteran action director Jan DeBont). When the original "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" was released 17 years ago, it played like an update of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" made by those who only saw trailers of the original. Taking the "Muppet Babies" approach to the Lara Croft film franchise, "Tomb Raider" decides to take us back to our heroine's early years and discover just what led her to her globe-hopping, treasure-hunting ways. ![]()
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February 2023
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