Tubi Thursday: Tomb Raider (2018)

Well, I've seen the knockoff.  
Let me see the original...

Well, the original Film based on like 10 Video Games and that is like 3 Reboots deep.

It's...

In London, Lara Croft is a grizzled(ish) woman is working dead end jobs.

Why is she so upset?

Well, her Father disappeared 7 years ago.

He was a Businessman and now she learns the truth.

He was an Explorer looking for the Tomb of a Japanese Death Goddess...as you do.

In spite of him telling her to burn his notes (to keep it from a group called Trinity), she keeps them and uses them to find the Island that supposedly houses her body.

She's rescued (but also not really) by Walton Goggins, who has been stuck there the whole time trying to find the Tomb himself.

She teams up (albeit relatively briefly) with the Boat Captain who took her there.

They work to free the people forced into slave labor.

Her Arc from Aimless Would-be Badass to actual Badass is nearly complete.

It is also worth noting that adapting a high end game made to run on PCs (even in, say, 2016) means that distinguishing between Game Footage and Film Footage is not as easy as it should be.

Do we need this?

Can Lara go full Rise of the Tomb Raider here?

Can she stop Goggins?

Can she find out the secret of the Death Goddess before it is too late?

To find out, stream it now (although it expires in 13 days at time of writing)

An enjoyable Action Film that is slightly elevated by the talent involved.

Right off the bat, this one is far more engaging than The Asylum's.  That one just didn't hook me.

It is a credit to the Cast- especially Vikander and Goggins- that the Characters are fleshed out and somewhat interesting.  The former really commits to the physicality and how it would effect Lara.

The latter is still mostly just evil, but you can understand his motivations.

It is hard not to compare this one to Uncharted- for obvious reasons.  This one feels a bit more intense and more focused, if we're being honest.

In a way, I'm sad to see this be a one-off.  Some of these people really tried hard.
Alas, we're getting yet another Reboot...but this isn't it.

This is a Chinese Bootleg I'll inevitably review.

A fairly enjoyable Film that works by feeling grounded and intense.  I do wish that they'd taken some more actual risks and less stock elements though.