Film of the Week: Tomb Raider

Film adaptations of games are infamous for being moderate or bad. Whenever they announce an adaptation of a game, there is always a split in the audience: those who are intrigued and looking forward to a new take on the franchise, and those who immediately expect it to be bad and the film to ruin that of which the game built. Adapting a game is a difficult task; it has to be done precise.

Tomb Raider is not only a film adaptation of the long living game franchise, but is also an adaptation of the rebooted era of the games in 2013, subsequently making this a reboot of the film series. The two previous films starring Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, weren’t exactly box office hits.

17 years later, we have a new take on the film franchise, and the first question I asked before even watching it was – have they improved anything? There are plenty of things this reboot can do differently and make it better.

Instead of introducing Lara Croft as an already experienced tomb raider, we see her origin story and how she became the beloved character. There were a few immediate differences with the setting of the film, to bring it up to date. Lara is a down-to-earth character, yet is also in her own world, who hasn’t accepted the wealth left behind by her father who disappeared when she was a child. She’s still figuring out what happened, and is waiting for him to return. It is only when she accepts the will does her adventure begins, and the mystery unfolds. In keeping with her characterisation, there is no supernatural elements in the film. They are however, heavily implied for the sake of the mystery, right up to the twist. The game does explore magic, and taking a core element from the game away and inserting realism instead, you would think, would ultimately ruin the film.

It is an adaptation of the story in the game, but that is exactly what it is, an adaptation. Tom Raider is a good standalone project. If it were to keep the supernatural elements in, it’s easy to see it would have made the film too convoluted with its explaining everything. Not only does this film need to entertain fans of the series, but also allow people who haven’t played the games to enjoy it as well. Staying away from the supernatural elements, which allows for a simple couple of lines for the revelation behind the mystery is a smart move.

A game allows the story to have so many elements, because it can be 10 times longer than a standard film. Condensing that into 1 hour and a half, maybe 2 hours, something has to be sacrificed. They took away what could be taken, and left in what is necessary to tell the story within the confines of a film.

Being an origin story of the character, it would be weird if, when she ended up in rough situations to know immediately what to do and come out unscathed. In this film, Lara Croft knows not of the life she found herself into. It was established earlier on in the film she is perfectly capable of defending herself and standing up to those who get in her way, but that’s in a city – a place where she grew up in and so knows exactly how it works and what to do. In unknown territory, all she has is what she’s learnt in the city, so of course Lara is going to stumble here and trip over there, and when it comes to the main antagonist of the story, who is much more powerful than anyone she’s encountered before – then yes, getting knocked about a couple of times is inevitable. A couple of times you can see that even she was surprised she got through that particular situation alive. Throughout the story, we do see her learning fast. Lara proves herself, completely.

Tomb Raider has unlocked a way to make film adaptations of games good, and that’s make them their own standalone feature. Actually adapt it, not try and fit everything that’s in the game in the film. There aren’t any subplots, it’s one coherent, linear story from beginning to end, and only focusing on the mystery. It only throws in a few references toward other plots only in passing to set up the next adventure.

Tomb Raider is not an adaptation of a game, but is a film paying homage to its source material. It’s enjoyable and Alicia Vikander absolutely nails her performance as Lara Croft, outshining Angelina Jolie completely, and hopefully pathing a new direction for video game adaptations in the future.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)