"TOMB RAIDER" (2018) Review

"TOMB RAIDER" (2018) Review

Some seventeen years ago, Paramount Pictures released a movie called "TOMB RAIDER". It starred Angelina Jolie and it was based upon a popular video game of the same title. The success of this film led to sequel that was released two years. However, that was as far this film franchise went. For a while. Fifteen years after the second film, Warner Brothers, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and two smaller production companies released a reboot featuring actress Alicia Vikander. 

This new or "reboot" "TOMB RAIDER" was not based upon the 1996 video game, but the new 2013 game that reconstructed the origins of the franchise's heroine, Lara Croft. Major elements of this game was utilized by screenwriters Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons for the movie's plot. In this reboot, Lara Croft makes a living as a bike courier in London, seven years after the disappearance of her archaeologist father, Lord Richard Croft. After Lara is arrested for a traffic incident with a police car, her father's partner, Ana Miller, encourages her to declare Lord Richard dead and claim her inheritance before the family's estate, Croft Manor, is sold. While examining her father's tomb, Lara discovers a pre-recorded message from him that details his research into Himiko, the mythical Queen of Yamatai. Richard also warns Lara to destroy all of his research, but Lara decides to further investigate his disappearance.

Lara's search for Richard leads her to Hong Kong, where she hires Lu Ren, the owner and captain of a ship called Endurance. Lu Ren turns out to be the son of the captain whom Lara's father had hired to take him to the Devil's Sea and the island of Yamatai, seven years earlier. The Endurance capsizes during a violent storm and both Lara and Lu Ren are washed ashore. The pair finds themselves taken prisoner and used as slave labor by one Mathias Vogel, the leader of an expedition to locate Himiko's tomb. The expedition has been funded by a shadowy organization called Trinity that seeks to harness and weaponize Himiko's power. 

"TOMB RAIDER" had received mixed reviews by film critics, but made a decent profit at the box office. Although the film made less money than Angelina Jolie's 2001 film, it made more money than the latter's 2003 sequel. Go figure. I will say this about this new "TOMB RAIDER" . . . it proved to be one of the most brutal action adventure films I have seen in recent years. One would not expect this after viewing the light-hearted "fox hunt" through London that led to Lara's arrest earlier in the film or her encounter with three thieves near Hong Kong Harbor. Once Lara and Lu Ren ended up on Yamatai, the movie became a narrative filled with brutal action as the pair and other Trinity slaves struggled to survive and escape their situation. This brutality was especially apparent in one sequence in which Lara managed to temporarily escape Vogel and his men, while one of the latter tracks her throughout the island.

Another aspect of "TOMB RAIDER" that I found particularly interesting is that its narrative seemed to be more or less coming-of-age story for the main protagonist. I found it odd that Lara was living in a small London flat, working as a bike carrier. At first, I assumed that her character had been revamped as a working-class woman, who would find herself swept into some adventure. But the revelation of her upper-class background, following her arrest, made me realize that Lara had been spending the previous seven years hiding from the heartache of her father's disappearance. Between her journey to the East and her adventures on Yamatai Island, Lara was forced to grow up and accept responsibility of her family inheritance. And in doing so, Lara discovered that the Trinity organization was not only owned by Croft Holdings, but also used its resources to find and weaponize supernatural artifacts . . . behind the backs of the Croft family. It was this discovery that led Lara to kick start her career as a "tomb raider".

However, the adventure on Yamatai Island and the search for Himiko's tomb led to what I regard as the film's one serious flaw. Although Queen Himiko was historically known as a shaman; Lara, Vogel and others discovered that the queen's body may or may not have held any magical properties. They discovered that the reason behind Himiko's sarcophagus being entombed in such an extreme manner was that the shaman/queen's body carried a disease so potent that mere physical contact triggered immediate bodily disintegration for some, and reduced others who are infected to an aggressive zombie-like state. Images around the tomb reveal that Himiko, who was a carrier and immune to the virus, had voluntarily traveled to the island and sacrificed herself to contain the virus. If I must be honest, I am a bit confused over whether Himiko's body had possessed a supernatural force or not. The video games, along with the two Jolie films, pretty made it clear that whatever artifact that Lara or the main villain sought had magical properties. I cannot say the same about Queen Himiko's body in this film. One scene featured Lara, Vogel and the others realizing that the queen's body had no magical properties. Yet, another scene featured one of Vogel's men disintegrating into dust and another becoming a zombie. I found the whole matter confusing.

Despite this problem, I enjoyed "TOMB RAIDER" and I enjoyed the performances featured in it. I confess that when I first learned that Alicia Vikander had been cast to portray Lara Croft . . . I just could not see it. I never saw the actress as the type to portray the protagonist in an action film. Thankfully, Ms. Vikander proved me wrong. She handled the actions scenes very well and I was also impressed by how she also conveyed Lara's character development.

Vikander also benefited from a talented supporting cast. Daniel Wu gave a charismatic performance as the Hong Kong sea captain Lu Ren, who conveyed Lara to Himiko Island. I was so impressed by his performance that I wish he had been in more scenes. Walton Goggins' portrayal as the villainous Mathias Vogel, who represented the Trinity organization. In fact, I found his Vogel to be a more interesting villain than the one he had portrayed in the recent Marvel film, "ANT-MAN & THE WASP". I also enjoyed Dominic West's performance as Lara's father, Lord Richard Croft. I thought he gave an excellent portrayal of the character's emotional journey throughout the film. The film also benefited from supporting performances from the likes of Kristin Scott-Thomas, a very funny Nick Frost and Jamie Winstone, Hannah John-Kamen, Emily Carey (who portrayed a younger Lara) and Derek Jacobi.

I am not going to pretend that "TOMB RAIDER" is a classic action-adventure film. But is it better than the two previous Lara Croft movies? I honestly do not know. My real complaint about the movie is that it seemed indecisive on whether the artifact that everyone sought was supernatural or not. "TOMB RAIDER" is not as stylized as the 2001 and 2003 films. But I do not consider this a bad thing. And if I must be honest, I was impressed by how director Roar Uthaug gave a brutal edge to the film's actions and Alicia Vikander's portrayal of Lara Croft. I may be unable to decide whether this film is better than the Jolie films, but I can state that I genuinely enjoyed it.

"TOMB RAIDER" (2018) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "TOMB RAIDER", the adaptation of the new 2013 video game. Directed by Roar Uthaug, the movie stars Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft: 



"TOMB RAIDER" (2018) Photo Gallery

"AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" (2004) Review

”AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS” (2004) Review

The year 2004 marked the umpteenth time that an adaptation of Jules Verne’s travelogue movie, ”Around the World in Eighty Days” hit the movie screen. Well . . . actually, the fifth time. Released by Disney Studios and directed by Frank Coraci, this adaptation starred Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Cécile de France, Ewan Bremmer and Jim Broadbent. 

This adaptation of Verne’s novel started on a different note. It opened with a Chinese man named Xau Ling (Jackie Chan) robbing a precious statuette called the Jade Buddha from the Bank of England. Ling managed to evade the police by hiding out at the home of an English inventor named Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan). To keep the latter from turning him in to the police, Ling pretends to be a French-born national named Passepartout, seeking work as a valet. After Fogg hired “Passepartout”, he clashed with various members of the Royal Academy of Science, including its bombastic member Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent). Kelvin expressed his belief that everything worth discovering has already been discovered and there is no need for further progress. The pair also discussed the bank robbery and in a blind rage, Phileas declared that that the thief could be in China in little over a month, which interests “Passepartout”. Kelvin pressured Phileas Fogg into a bet to see whether it would be possible, as his calculations say, to travel around the world in 80 days. If Fogg wins, he would become Minister of Science in Lord Kelvin's place; if not, he would have to tear down his lab and never invent anything again. Unbeknownst to both Fogg and “Passepartout”, Kelvin recruited a corrupt London police detective named Inspector Fix to prevent the pair from completing their world journey. However, upon their arrival in Paris, they met an ambitious artist named Monique Larouche (Cécile de France), who decides to accompany them on their journey. Ling also became aware of warriors under the command of a female warlord named General Fang (Karen Mok), who also happens to be an ally of Lord Kelvin.

I might as well make this short. ”AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS” did not do well at the box. In fact, it bombed. In a way, one could see why. In compare to the 1956 and 1989 versions, it took a lot more liberties with Verne’s original story. Phileas Fogg is portrayed as an eccentric inventor, instead of a Victorian gentleman of leisure. He takes on a bet with a rival member of the Royal Academy of Science, instead of members of the Reform Club. Passepartout is actually a Chinese warrior for an order of martial arts masters trying to protect his village. Princess Aouda has become a cheeky French would-be artist named Monique. And Inspector Fix has become a corrupt member of the London Police hired by the venal aristocrat Lord Kelvin to prevent Fogg from winning his bet. Fogg, Passepartout and Monique traveled to the Middle East by the Orient Express, with a stop in Turkey. Their journey also included a long stop at Ling’s village in China, where Fogg learned about Ling’s deception. 

Some of the comedy – especially those scenes involving Fix’s attempts to arrest Fogg – came off as too broad and not very funny. Also, this adaptation of Verne’s tale was not presented as some kind of travelogue epic – as in the case of the 1956 and 1989 versions. The movie made short cuts by presenting Ling and Fogg’s journey through the use of day-glow animation created by an art direction team supervised by Gary Freeman. Frankly, I thought it looked slightly cheap. I really could have done without the main characters’ stop in Turkey, where Monique almost became Prince Hapi’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger) seventh wife. It slowed down the story and it lacked any humor, whatsoever. I am a major fan of Jim Broadbent, but I must admit that last scene which featured his rant against Fogg and Queen Victoria on the steps of the Royal Academy of Science started out humorous and eventually became cringe-worthy. Poor man. He deserved better.

Did I like ”AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS”? Actually, I did. I found it surprisingly entertaining, despite its shortcomings. Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan made a rather funny screen team as the resourceful and clever Ling who had to deceive the slightly arrogant and uptight Fogg in order to quickly reach China. Cécile de France turned out to be a delightful addition to Chan and Coogan’s screen chemistry as the coquettish Monique, who added a great deal of spark to Fogg’s life. Granted, I had some complaints about Broadbent’s performance in his last scene. Yet, he otherwise gave a funny performance as the power-hungry and venal Lord Kelvin. It was rare to see him portray an outright villain. And although I found most of Bremmer’s scenes hard to take (I am not that big of a fan of slapstick humor), I must admit that two of his scenes left me in stitches – his attempt to arrest Ling and Fogg in India and his revelations of Lord Kelvin’s actions on the Royal Academy of Science steps.

There were many moments in David N. Titcher, David Benullo, and David Goldstein’s script that I actually enjoyed. One, I really enjoyed the entire sequence in Paris that featured Ling and Fogg’s meeting with Monique and also Ling’s encounter with some of General Fang’s warriors. Not only did it featured some top notch action; humorous performances by Chan, Coogan and de France; and colorful photography by Phil Meheux. Another first-rate sequence featured the globe-trotting travelers’ arrival at Ling’s village in China. The action in this sequence was even better thanks to the fight choreography supervised by Chan and stunt/action coordinator Chung Chi Li. It also had excellent characterization thanks to the screenwriters and the actors, which included Chan, Sammo Hung and Daniel Wu. One particular scene had me laughing. It featured Coogan and the two actors portraying Ling’s parents during a drunken luncheon for the travelers. 

I wish I could say that this version of ”AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS” is the best I have seen. But I would be lying by making such a statement. To be honest, all three versions I have seen are flawed in their own ways. This version is probably more flawed than the others. But . . . I still managed to enjoy myself watching it. The movie can boast some first-rate performances from the cast – especially Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France. And it also featured some kick-ass action scenes in at least three major sequences. Thankfully, it was not a complete waste.

"AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" (2004) Photo Gallery

Below is a gallery from the 2004 adaptation of Jules Verne's novel called "AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS". Directed by Frank Coraci, the movie starred Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Cécile de France, Ewan Bremmer and Jim Broadbent:

"AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" (2004) Photo Gallery