"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.
"JASON BOURNE" (2016) Review
When I first learned that Universal Studios had a fifth movie planned for their BOURNE movie franchise, I was pleased. I figured that this new movie would continue the story where both the 2007 film, "THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM" and 2012's "THE BOURNE LEGACY" left off.
I suspect that some might be wondering to what I am referring. Let me explain. Both movies hinted, especially "THE BOURNE LEGACY" that C.I.A. Deputy Director Pamela Landy might be facing trouble for assisting Jason Bourne aka David Webb in the 2007. In fact, one of the reasons that Deputy Director Noah Vosen and Director Ezra Cramer had chosen her to help track down Bourne in the 2007 movie in the first place . . . to set her up to take a fall in case their efforts to find and kill Bourne go south. Well, it did go south . . . for them. And in the 2012 movie, Vosen accused Landy of committing treason in order to deflect his legal problems from himself and Cramer. So I figured that this fifth movie would pick up the tale. I even considered the possibility of Bourne and fellow C.I.A. fugitives Aaron Cross from the 2012 movie, working together to help Landry. Well, that did not happen. As it turned out, star Matt Damon and screenwriter/director Tony Gilroy had a falling out over the screenplay for the 2007 movie. Jeremy Renner starred in the 2012 movie and Gilroy did not participate in this new film's production.
So, what was "JASON BOURNE" about? Written by Christopher Rouse and Paul Greengrass, who served as director of this film, the 2007 movie and 2004's "THE BOURNE SUPREMACY"; the movie centered around Jason Bourne's attempts to discover more about his past with the C.I.A. and especially Treadstone. This all began when former Treadstone colleague Nicky Parsons, who has joined a hackvist group, hacks into the CIA's mainframe server in order to expose the CIA's black ops programs. Parsons finds documents that concern Bourne's recruitment into the Treadstone program and his father's role in the program. Both Bourne and Parsons meet at Syntagma Square during a violent anti-government protest in Athens, Greece; where she informs him with this new information. At the same time, Parsons' hack alerts Cyber Ops Division Head Heather Lee and CIA Director Robert Dewey. Dewey sends a black ops team and a former Blackbriar assassin nicknamed "The Asset" to kill Parsons and Bourne. More importantly, Dewey wants to shut down any loose ends regarding the C.I.A.'s black ops programs, including the latest one, "Iron Hand" (a collection of the previous ones - Treadstone, Blackbriar, Outcome and LARX). That means destroying the hackvist group to which Parsons belonged; killing Bourne; Parsons; CEO social media site Deep Dream Aaron Kalloor, with whom he had become estranged; or anyone else who might be a threat. He also wants to use Kalloor's Deep Dream site for real-time mass surveillance of the public.
Eventually I realized that "JASON BOURNE" was not going to continue the narratives of "THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM" and "THE BOURNE LEGACY" and set about enjoying this latest entry in the franchise. And there was a good deal to enjoy about this movie. First of all, "JASON BOURNE" featured some top notch performances. Matt Damon gave a pretty solid performance as an older and more world weary Jason Bourne aka David Webb, who seemed to have resigned himself to an existence of wandering, participating in illegal fight rings and loneliness. Tommy Lee Jones was also excellent as Robert Dewey, the current and ruthless C.I.A. Director who feels threatened not only by outside forces like Bourne, Nicky Parsons, a hackvist group and an angry social media CEO, but especially from the likes of his ambitious colleague, Heather Lee. Julia Stiles returned with another excellent performance as Nicky Parsons, an ex-C.I.A. operative-turned-hackvist. Vincent Cassel gave a very intense performance as former Blackbriar assassin, "The Asset", who harbors a grudge against Bourne, whose exposure of the black ops program led to him being captured and tortured. The movie also featured pretty good performances from Ato Essandoh, Riz Ahmed, Scott Shepherd, Bill Camp, Vinzenz Kiefer and Gregg Henry (who portrayed Bourne's late father in flashbacks). But for me, the most interesting performance came from Alicia Vikander, who portrayed C.I.A. Cyber Ops Division head, Heather Lee. Vikander's Lee was a curious mixture of raging ambition, an introverted personality and a ruthless talent for manipulation.
The movie also featured some excellent action sequences. Yes, I realize that it signaled a return to Paul Greengrass' shaky cam style. But to be honest, different movie industries have been utilizing this style for about a decade. Personally, I wish they would get over it. But despite this, I still enjoyed this movie's action sequences. I found the Athens sequence rather exciting. Greengrass and Rouse upped the scale by allowing it to take place during an anti-government protest . . . at night. Another action sequence that impressed me occurred in London, where Bourne contacted a former Treadstone surveillance operative named Malcolm Smith for information about his father. But if I had to choose my favorite action sequence in Las Vegas, where Bourne attempted to prevent Dewey from getting rid of his increasingly troublesome former ally, CEO Aaron Kallor during a technology convention and Lee.
Despite these cinematic virtues, I had walked away from "JASON BOURNE" feeling disappointed. What was my main problem? Quite frankly, Paul Greengrass and Christopher Rouse's screenplay. I found it contrived, unoriginal and filled with some questionable plot holes. A closer look at this movie made me realized that it strongly reminded me of the plot for "THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM". In both movies, Bourne found himself drawn into the story by an individual bent upon exposing the C.I.A.'s black ops programs. In this movie, it was former agent Nicky Parsons. In the 2007 film, it was a British journalist. Both ended up murdered within the movie's first thirty-to-forty minutes. That is correct. Poor Nicky shared the same fate as Marie Kreutz - fridged for the sake of the main character. I tolerated it once, but not this time. In both movies, the main villain decides to go after Bourne because he feared the former assassin might expose his current schemes. And once again, this movie exposed another disturbing secret regarding Bourne's past.
Speaking of the latter, this one aspect of the movie's plot really annoyed me. What was the secret in Bourne's past? Apparently his father - a C.I.A. official named Richard Webb - was the true creator of the Treadstone program. When I first heard this, I was . . . well to be honest, I simply did not care. But when I heard that Webb Senior was murdered because he tried to stop his son's recruitment into Treadstone, my apathy transformed into contempt. And when the movie revealed that it was Dewey who had ordered Webb Senior's assassination, I shook my head in disbelief. How was that possible? Were audiences really supposed to believe that Dewey was an official part of the Treadstone program? Since when? To make matters worse, Greengrass and Rouse had marked "The Asset", a former Blackbriar agent, as the one who committed the murder. I found this revelation to be ridiculously contrived and I officially washed my hands of this movie.
Yes, I realize that I found the performances and action sequences something to admire about "JASON BOURNE", thanks to director Paul Greengrass and a cast led by Matt Damon. Many fans had cheered that Damon had resumed as lead in the BOURNE film franchise. Yes, it was nice to see him again. But to be honest, I never had a problem with Jeremy Renner or the actual movie he had starred in - namely "THE BOURNE LEGACY". Hollywood legend Darryl F. Zanuck had once pointed out - the backbone of a good movie is the story. Yet, despite the virtues in "JASON BOURNE", I found its main narrative unoriginal, contrived and questionable. And in the end, the movie eventually disappointed the hell out of me.
"THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." (2015) ReviewThe year 2015 seemed to be a big year for cinematic spies. At least three movies have been released about the world of espionage. And one is scheduled to be released some three months from now. One of the movies that was already released was Guy Ritchie's big screen adaptation of the NBC 1964-1968 television series called "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.". The television series from the 1960s began with its two main characters - Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin - already working for the international intelligence agency called U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). Ritchie's film is basically an origin story and tells how Napoleon and Illya first became partners in the espionage business. Set in 1963, "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." begins in East Berlin, where professional thief-turned-C.I.A. Agent Napoleon Solo is tasked with retrieving a young woman named Gaby Teller and escorting her to West Berlin. Gaby is the daughter of an alleged Nazi scientist-turned-U.S. collaborator, who has disappeared a year or two ago from the United States. Tasked with stopping Napoleon from achieving his goal is a highly skilled K.G.B. agent named Illya Kuryakin. Although Napoleon's mission is a success, he is ordered by his C.I.A. handler Saunders to work with Illya and Gaby to investigate a shipping company owned by Alexander and Victoria Vinciguerra, a wealthy couple of Nazi sympathizers. Due to the couple's intent to create their own private nuclear weapon, the C.I.A. and K.G.B. have decided to make this operation a joint effort. Gaby becomes essential to the mission, since her uncle Rudi works for the Vinciguerras.Mixed reviews greeted "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." when it first hit the theaters. Well, according to Wikipedia, the movie achieved mixed reviews. Judging from box office results, the movie barely made a profit. It seemed a pity that not many moviegoers were willing to take a chance on this film. Then again, I am not that surprised. Warner Brothers Studios barely made any effort to publicize this movie. And this was a mistake in my eyes. Today's generation of young moviegoers are not familiar with the 1960s television series. In fact, the series had not been seen on the television screen since TNT Channel aired a handful of episodes back in 1996. The studio could have stepped up its game in publicizing the film. They could have also used re-released box sets of the old series at a reasonable price as tie-ins. And some moviegoers old enough to remember Norman Felton's series, complained that the movie was not an exact replica. I have nothing to say about that. Well, I do. But that will come later."THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." is not perfect. Actually, what movie is? And I do have one or two minor complaints and a major one. Okay, minor complaints. I was not that impressed by Daniel Pemberton's score for the movie's second half. I found it overbearing to the point that it nearly distracted me from the plot. My second complaint revolved around James Herbert's editing. Well, I was impressed with his editing in most of the film . . . especially the car chase in East Berlin and the sequence featuring Napoleon and Illya's break-in of the Vinciguerras's shipyard. But I was not impressed by Herbert's editing in the final action sequence featuring Napoleon and Illya's attempt to rescue Gaby from a fleeing Alexander Vinciguerra. I found it slightly confusing and thought it had too many close ups. In fact, the sequence reminded me - in a negative way - of Paul Greengrass' direction of the second and third "BOURNE" movies.However, my main beef with "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." proved to be Joanna Johnston's costume designs. The movie is supposed to be set in 1963. The costumes DID NOT reflect the fashions of that year. I kid you not. The following image is an example of women's fashion in 1963:
Look at the images of Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debecki:
I cannot deny that Joanna Johnston's designs are both original and gorgeous to look at. But . . . they are not a reflection of the movie's 1963 setting. Judging from Vikander and Debecki's costumes, I would say that the movie was actually set some time between 1968 and 1970 or 1971. And in the end, the movie's costumes only reminded me of the costume mistakes featured in the 2011 movie, "X-MEN: FIRST-CLASS".I certainly had no problem with the movie's plot written by Guy Ritchie and Lionel Wigram. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I have always wondered how Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin first met and started working for U.N.C.L.E. The television series never revealed this history, considering it began with the pair already working for the agency. And Rictchie and Wigram's plot more than satisfied my curiosity. They made some changes from the television series. One, Napoleon became a former thief whom the C.I.A. blackmailed into working for them in exchange for avoiding prison. In some ways, this newly imagined Napoleon Solo reminded me of the Alexander Mundy character from the 1968-1970 television series,"IT TAKES A THIEF". The Illya Kuryakin character underwent a few changes as well. He remained a somewhat stoic anduber professional agent, with a penchant for the occasional sardonic humor. But Ritchie and Wigram gave him a fearsome temper that was usually triggered by anything relating to his father, who had been dishonored by a scandal during World War II.Ritchie and Wigram's script not only utilized a bit of "IT TAKES A THIEF", but also some characters from the TV version of "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." It seemed obvious to me that the Victoria and Alexander Vinciguerra were based on the Gervaise Ravel and Harold Bufferton characters that were portrayed by Anne Francis and John Van Dreelan in two Season One episodes. And fighting neo-Nazis is a theme that has permeated many spy movies and television shows throughout the years. Especially neo-Nazis with nuclear weapons. In fact, I just saw a Season One episode of the 60s' series called (1.05) "The Deadly Games Affair" in which a former Nazi who tried to kick start a crazy plot to bring back the former glory of Hitler's party. For "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.", I thought Ritchie and Wigram created an interesting twist on theme, by incorporating the Swinging Sixties scene in Europe . . . especially through characters like Victoria Vinciguerra and Gaby's Uncle Rudi. As for the movie's dialogue . . . well, I just adored it. I especially adored the interaction between Napoleon and Illya - especially in one scene in which they argued over the right wardrobe for Gaby to wear during their mission.Speaking of performances, I tried to recall a performance that seemed . . . well, off kilter or just plain bad. Perhaps other critics came across such performances. I did not. Armie Hammer had an interesting task in his portrayal of K.G.B. agent Illya Kuryakin. He had the difficult task of conveying many aspects of Illya's personality - his no-nonsense attitude, ruthlessness, emotional streak and barely controllable temper. And he did it . . . with great skill. I cannot recall if David McCallum ever had to deal with such an array of personality traits and blend them so seamlessly. Henry Cavill made an extremely charming Napoleon Solo. More importantly, he did an excellent job in conveying the character's talent for manipulation and judge of character. I realize that his Napoleon Solo seemed more like an adaptation of the Alexander Mundy character. But watching his performance made me realize how much he reminded me of Robert Vaughn's performance in the NBC series. Alicia Vikander, who portrayed Gaby Teller, proved to be such a surprise for me. One must understand that I have never seen "A ROYAL AFFAIR". And I honestly do not recall her performance in "THE FIFTH ESTATE". But I was very impressed by her performance as East German defector Gaby Teller, who turned out to be vital to Napoleon and Illya's mission. Vikander connected very well with both of her leading men, especially Hammer. And she did a great job in conveying Gaby's intelligence, toughness and strong will.Hugh Grant pretty much took me by surprise with his performance as Alexander Waverly, the head of U.N.C.L.E. He was charming and witty, as usual. Of course, as usual. He is Hugh Grant. But he was also effective and projected a strong presence as U.N.C.L.E.'s pragmatic leader, who is ruthless enough to make some tough choices. When I first saw Elizabeth Debicki in "THE GREAT GATSBY", I was very impressed by her performance. I was even more impressed by her portrayal of the villainous Victoria Vinciguerra. She conveyed a great deal of charm, style and wit in her performance. I also thought Debicki made a scary villain. Hell, she was one of the scariest villains of the Summer 2015 season. I was surprised to see Sylvester Groth, who played Gaby's Fascist uncle. The last time I saw him, he portrayed Nazi Joseph Goebbels in 2009's "INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS". And he was funnier. He was a bit more scary as Gaby's snobbish, yet sadistic Uncle Rudi. But he was also very funny . . . especially in his last scene in the movie. The movie also featured Jared Harris, whose take on a C.I.A. station chief seemed more like a spoof on American authority figures, along with solid performances from Luca Calvani, Simona Caparrini and Christian Berkel (who also appeared in "INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS"."THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." had a few flaws. This is to be expected for just about any movie. And yes, I realize that it is not an exact replica of the NBC 1964-1968 series. Mind you, I could care less, for I believe originality is more important than repetition. And that is what I liked about "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." Director Guy Ritchie and co-writer Lionel Wigram took an old television series and put their own original spin on it. And they were ably supported by a first-rate cast led by Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill.
