Tomb Raider - an engaging tale amidst an ocean of cliffhangers

Tomb Raider (2018) – rating (3.5/5)

 Cast : Alicia Wikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu

Directed by Roar Uthaug

Story by Geneva Robert-Dworet, Evan Daughterty

Review by Zulfiqar

            The legend goes Himiko, the ancient queen of Japan, was a witch who ruled her empire using dark arts. She was buried alive in a tomb, which is guarded using heavy reinforcements of tricks and magic, for it is considered once her soul gets out, there is no cure for the scourge on the whole humanity. For eons, the tomb is a secret buried on one of the mysterious islands of Japan, until Mr Richard Croft, a rich millionaire and an explorer by avocation, ferrets out the particular island amond and the secrets of the tomb’s architecture. His main intention is to protect the crypt and its secrets.

            Before we venture out about his daughter, Lara, we need to discuss Richard Croft as a whole. His sole intention of securing the mystery of the crypt is by uncovering the truth and detailing it in various diaries and audio recordings, and not destroying them, so that his daughter would do the deed for him. How convenient is that? I don’t know. Moreover, what bugs the audience is when (spoiler alert ahead) he reprimands her daughter in the latter part of the movie, when he is discovered to be alive, for not burning his research. Well, you shouldn’t have left the breadcrumbs all the way, Einstein.

            So, when Lara Croft, who is abandoned by her father when she is a teenager, comes of age, is still coming to terms of her father’s assumed death after his exploratory meanderings. She turns down the offer of owning up her father’s empire as the mere act would make her accept that her father is really dead. When her father’s trusted business associate and caretaker of the company, Ana (Kristin Scott Thomas), pleads Lara to take care of her father’s estate and company leaving the pecuniary life she is living in the streets of London, the little heir at last relents. This simple act makes her stumble on her father’s secrets meant for her to find. This takes her on a voyage to the referred Japanese island.

            Alicia Wikander transforms her physicality as per the role requirement, which itself is no mean achievement, as I initially felt her figure was incongruous to the role. But she excels in the stunts with an ease of a gymnast and runs, quite lithely almost on her toes. She brings a neighborhood charm to the role, initially, when she doesn’t pay her bills to her boxing coach and accepts ludicrous bets to make ends meet. But in the emotional scenes, she brings a fetching vulnerability. However, this Videogame based title role and movie is modeled for its action set pieces and in this aspect, the movie serves all the angles perfectly.

            You could easily go by my word, that every action set piece is a marvel in itself, starting from the bicycle chase among the narrow nooks of London’s street architecture. But it is the crystal clarity of the scenes inside the crypt and the storm around the mysterious island where I had to say for the first time that the 3D glasses never made any hindrance to the eyes. The chase among the jungle too has a poetic follow of the camera with many interesting moments in it. But probably, it is inside the crypt that we know how the director, Roar Uthaug, used the services of cinematographer, George Richmond. Even the Art Department needs to be congratulated on the stupendous construction of puzzles and clues, traps and dials, smoke and mirrors.

            But the preposterousness lies in the abundance of the cliffhanger moments. My God! There are so many of them, that you would suffocate in their abundance. Lara survives the fall from the tree-bridge to drift to the wing of an old rusty plane. I don’t know since how many light years it might have been staying there with the rust gathered over its surface. But hold on, the moment, the lithe Lara steps on it, it becomes a trap, which could crumble any moment. At the last moment, as is Lara’s stupendous timing, she makes it. But wait, we have a scene in the interior of the plane, which is teetering to fall in the abyss. Really, Lara says. And even we do. In the crypt, the relationship between Lara and the cliffhangers reaches its zenith. She solves the puzzles by the breadth of the hair and survives the cascading pillars by the width of I-don’t-know. And during those moments, papa Richard adds his encouragements like saw on the ears. Walton Goggins, who makes a convincing, cruel villain, becomes a pawn for that survivor till the last moment. Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) will be the sidekick of Lara, no doubt, in the future. He has his initial moments, but in the end, he gives way to the script, which is delve into the interiors of the crypt and the story.

            But then again, the movie has the essential element, which is so very lacking in the latest run of fantasy genre. It engages. Director Roar Uthaug never indulges a dull moment whole through the length of the movie. He is aided perfectly by the plot, which has 2 surprises in the end. One is quite obvious as to the antagonist, but the other one, a plot detail is quite a delish relish. It makes the whole story worth its while. It convinces the movie both in the spirit and in its plausibility.

            Tomb Raider is a ‘Batman Begins’ to that of Lara Croft and in that aspect, while giving the image of the lead, as to what she is, it succeeds fully. It even has a moment when the prodigal heir returns to the heirdom.

The movie doesn’t introduce her as a legend, but how she is shaping to be one. Her costume, tank top comes by way of casualness rather than design. In the final scenes, her braid makes its appearance. Her shorts will replace her cargo pants in the next part of the franchise. Isn’t the sequel is what the producers are aiming at? As of now, it definitely looks on the right track.