Tomb Raider was one of the first and most inoffensive of the many adaptations from video games to the big screen. Was it or its sequel a good movie? Definitely not, but compared to the soul-swallowing muck masquerading as “films” we’ve gotten before and after? I didn’t mind Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider so much.
Still, I’m hoping for better with this entry. Perhaps we can upgrade from forgettable to something at least average? I choose to be hopeful. As I said before, they at least picked the right Tomb Raider games to take inspiration from.
How will it turn out? I admit I have an intense bias towards Walton Goggins, but he gives me hope. This trailer features a lot more of him than the first and establishes a previous relationship with Lara’s father. At the very least I feel I can count on him to deliver a good villain. It looks like Tomb Raider 2013 and seems to focus on the same things. I want to be hopeful.
However, I’ve been burnt by too many video game adaptations and see the same bad signs in this trailer. Why is Trinity trying to cause a global genocide, exactly? It’s not their goal in the new Tomb Raider games. This kind of senseless evil is the kind of thing that sinks a movie. And I’m still upset at seeing no Sam Nishimura. I’ll keep saying it; you can’t adapt Tomb Raider 2013 without a Sam.
We’ll see. I’m a positive person who chooses to be positive. At the very least I think we’ll get a passable movie here. Walton Goggins should assure that much.
Tomb Raider hits theaters on March 16 and stars Alicia Vikander as the iconic Lara Croft.
