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.
Video and images courtesy of MGM
