The Raid

We watched Tomb Raider (2018) mostly out of nostalgia for the 2001 Angelina Jolie version. That felt like it started a new style of action movie. This one feels like just one more - but a pretty good one.

It starts with Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) as a bike messenger in London. Her father is missing, presumed dead, and she can't access his fortune because she won't accept his death and take control of the firm. She is the usual tough as nails type. When the other messengers declare a "fox hunt", she volunteers to be the fox - she will ride with a dripping can of paint hanging off her bike, and if she can avoid getting caught by the other riders, she wins. It's short but fun, but maybe not as much fun as Premium Rush or Quicksilver.

Vikander finally opens her dad's will and finds some clues that lead her into a secret room under the family vault - yes, in a tomb, but it technically isn't a raid. That sets up the McGuffin, the tomb of Princess Himiko, an ancient Japanese godess who killed everyone she touched. This tomb is hidden on Yametai Island (Japanese for "I want to quit"), so she heads out.

After some goofing around in Hong Kong Harbor (done better in a dozen Jackie Chan movies), she gets Daniel Wu, a washed up drunk, to pilot her to the island - where they immediately wreck. Now, she must spend seven years on this hellish island... Wait, that's the intro to Arrow.

Here she meets the bad guy, Walter Goggins, a Nazi archeologist - wait, not Nazi, that's Indiana Jones - an archeologist searching for the same tomb. She also finds her father, Dominic West (Jigsaw), who has been trapped for seven years on this hellish - sorry, I did it again.

Now we get into some serious tomb raiding, in the underground tunnels. I got a very Lovecraftian, cyclopean, non-Euclidean geometry feel here, which is good and a bit unexpected.

I've skipped over what is the best part of these movies - the action and stunts. They are mostly well-done. although there is obviously plenty of CGI and greenscreen - same as in the game. Vikander is a much more convincing action star than Jolie, who relied a lot on stuntpeople and editing. She is also more realistic. She gets beat up a lot, and she doesn't make every shot she takes. (Of course, Jolie played a more experienced, well-trained Croft.)

In fact, my conclusion is that this movie is not that good, but Vikander is great. She brings immediacy and depth to her role, really more than is in the script. She is so much better than the movie.

Also, the music for the original was great - full of "jock jams", pump-em up grooves. In this version, nothing special.