Directed by Roar Uthaug (The Wave; Escape; Cold Prey) and starring Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl; Ex Machina; Jason Bourne; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; Testament of Youth; The Fifth Estate; Anna Karenina), Dominic West (The Square; Finding Dory; Testament of Youth; Pride; Johnny English Reborn; Genius; 28 Days), Walton Goggins (Maze Runner: The Death Cure; The Hateful Eight; American Ultra; Django Unchained; Lincoln; Cowboys & Aliens; The World's Fastest Indian; The Bourne Identity) and Daniel Wu (The Man with the Iron Fists; Blood Brothers; Around the World in 80 Days; Geostorm).
Action Adventure, 118 mins, 12+
Seven years after having last seen her father Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West) alive, 21 year-old Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) works as a bike courier in London and trains in mixed martial arts. With her life seemingly going nowhere, she is convinced to sign legal papers acknowledging her father is dead so his estate and business empire - in which she has no desire to become involved - can be released. She then stumbles onto his notes regarding his search for the tomb of Queen Himiko on Yamatai, an island off Japan.
She sets off and meets up with Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) whose father brought Lara's father to search for Yamatai by boat. They travel through treacherous seas and become shipwrecked as their boat breaks up on the rocky shoreline. The island is not uninhabited and she meets up with Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins) who is trying to get to Himiko's tomb first with a team of mercenaries and crew of slaves working at gunpoint.
Needless to say, their journey brings them to where they believe Himiko's tomb lies, but first have to navigate a series of puzzles and booby traps, some of many parallels with the Indiana Jones series of films.
With obvious comparisons with Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft in the 2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the 2003 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Alicia Vikander's Lara Croft is quite different. Yes, the two Laras' personalities are both free-spirited and athletic young women; however, there is one significant difference - Angelina Jolie's Lara uses guns frequently while Alicia Vikander's Lara hardly touches any the entire film, and certainly doesn't fire one. Instead, she is very handy indeed with a bow and arrow...
The plot may be a little thin and there may be a lot of CGI effects, yet all eyes are on Alicia Vikander throughout the film. She has earned a sequel, certainly helped by the last few scenes in the film, and many cinema-goers will be eagerly awaiting news of the next instalment.
While Patty Jenkins's 2017 Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot proving a massive with with audiences last year, the number of films with strong female leads is increasing, and Roar Uthaug's 2018 Tomb Raider not too far behind.
