Tomb Raider

Video game to film adaptions generally suck. There's the truly bad ones like Super Mario Bros, Max Payne, Far Cry and Bloodrayne, shoddy ones with some good moments like Doom, Prince Of Persia, Hitman and Warcraft. And every now and then you get a genuinely solid adaption like Silent Hill which understands its source material and really works. This reboot of the Tomb Raider film series falls between the second and third category.

Lara Croft is a bike messenger in London. Her father went missing 7 years ago and she turned her back on her fancy life and set out to do her own thing. When her father's company contacts her to sign papers declaring him legally dead she receives a clue that sets her on a path towards answering the mystery of his disappearance.

I enjoyed this. It's good silly fun that looks lovely. It never gets boring and once it finds it's stride it never slows down. Alicia Vikander makes an excellent Lara and her physicality makes her look genuinely convincing taking on a few hulking baddies. Unlike the previous Tomb Raider films she makes Lara Croft feel like a real person and not just a pneumonic one liner machine. She's warm and her memories of her father and how she deals with those give the film a human core. If you are a fan of the games you'll get a big kick out of  the 3 or 4 set-pieces that have been lifted directly from the 2013 reboot of the game too. One thing video game adaptions do wrong is straying too far from their source material and alienating the fans. This adds to the Croft saga but at the same time gives us plenty of familiar material that will make the geeks out there smile wide. You'll certainly get more out of this film if you've played the newer versions of the game too. One nod to fans comes right at the end of the film and will help satisfy those who feel something is missing.

Like the crappy Angelina Jolie take on the series this film is somewhat lacking in a rather important aspect the the game. Actual tomb raiding. One of the main joys of the games was wondering into a dark tomb and solving intricate puzzles to both survive and find treasure. It does happen in the film but only once and while pretty cool was just not enough. Also a lot of the time Lara is in a group or interacting with other characters whereas in the games you spend most of the time by yourself, exploring or taking on armies. The game was unique in that aspect, a young woman taking on baddies by herself and I wish we'd got to see more of that here. One complaint I've heard about this film is the earlier scenes slow the pace and feel wedged in. But in the context of the story they work. They show us what the main character is capable so later scenes of her in action feel right. It's a good way to curb the Mary Sue accusations that always seem to be thrown at action films with women in the lead.

A few complaints aside they got the feel right though. The stuff that works really works. Vikander as Lara is pitch perfect. The Island location. An escape from a collapsing tomb, jumps across yawning chasms with only her trusty pick axe to save her and one stealthy scene involving a bow and arrow that quickly turns violent evokes great memories of the game. This last one is a moment that will make the gamers in the audience whoop. Even though this is a 12 certificate film they've managed to carry the game's brutality across to the screen. Lara's first kill is a vicious moment that may shock some parents who've brought their kids. Walton Goggins as the big bad is a nasty piece of work too. Far less likable than in his TV roles but he does enough to make you want to see him suffer.

Go see this is you want to see an iconic video game heroine do her thing for 2 hrs. It's a solid start to cinema's newest franchise. It's far from perfect but it's still very entertaining.