SOUFYAAN TIMOL (15 YEARS OLD)
I do not usually write movie reviews, but for this particular one, I felt that I had to. I went to the theatre with high expectations. And I was unfortunately very disappointed. The story goes as follows: Lara Croft’s (aka Tomb Raider) father has disappeared years ago. Now she discovers that he actually went after some kind of mysterious relic that has magical powers. She decides to go to his last destination to solve the mystery of his disappearance. With an alcoholic and slightly disturbed sidekick, she takes on an adventure where she will have to rely on her sharp mind, blind faith and stubborn spirit to survive. 
Tomb Raider is not a complete mess – it has a beginning, a middle and an end. The problem is that no part of it is entertaining. The plot was outrageously light, and very predictable. The characters were way too simple. From the resentful villain Mathias Vogel to the kind-of brave sidekick Lu Ren, there was no one who seemed to be there to do anything but provide a means to an end. The acting was average, except maybe from Alicia Vikander, which may have saved the movie from being an absolute disaster.
The movie is based on the two video games released in 2013 and 2015. Having played and really enjoyed both, I could not help the comparison between the movie and the games. My take is that although the movie contained quite a few scenes directly adapted from the games, it could not reproduce the story, eerie atmosphere, emotions, characters and darkness that made the games so special. Of course, the movie does not have to be the exact replica of the games, but as I watched it, I felt that everything which made the games so enjoyable was missing. I never saw the badass survivor from the games. It was a movie for children.
I did not feel attached to the characters or the story, at any point. The main character, Lara Croft, was more or less emotionless, to me anyway. The villain, proved to be exactly what I hoped he would not be. He was evil, a killer without mercy but obviously, he would not kill the main character. As for all the ‘bad guys’ with automatic rifl es, they would, as usual, always miss, even when their target was right in front of them. While the good guys would hit them each time they shot. And, of course, all the unimportant characters would die, one by one, until, miraculously only the main characters were still alive. The clichés in this movie were awfully frequent. All in all, the movie was no better than your average action fl ick. Well, it might have actually been worse.
I say all that with an open mind, having absolutely loved the games the movie is based on. I’ll still recommend you watch it as I’ve heard many people actually liked it.
RATING: 3.5/10