I have not played the original Tomb Raider games, and haven’t played the latest. I sadly do not have the money or the time, but I did play the 2013 game, Unfortunately enough, that is what the new Tomb Raider movie is based on. Having played the game, my friend and I skipped off to the movie, already in the mind set it would be awful, like most movies based on video games are. We had hope though, having gone to the Assassin’s Creed movie with the same intent but were rather happy with it. Tomb Raider....did not turn out to be like this. I was fine wth the first part. I could watch the fox race all day and be entertained....but what happened after that?! As soon as Lara has her father’s world revealed(video game players that haven’t seen the movie should be very confused here) to her the entire movie fell apart.
   

First off, the erased Lara’s crew, and her knowledge her dad was an archeologist. She never had the love and curiousity that drove her to Yamatai in the first place. It was interesting how they got her there, but another big question, where did Sam go? Wasn’t she kind of a big point of the story? I let myself forget about her, maybe they’d fix it..somehow. They..do not. Lara gets to the island, completely avoid of the natives that once where there. (Believe me, I’m super salty about missing cannibal cave. That was my cave, man!) I guess not a huge issue, but it was kinda sad not having the Himiko worshippers to deal with.

Then, Metias is introduced right off the bat. I don’t like what they did with him. There isn’t the small iffy sense of trust he originally started with, and he’s just not right. He’s just off, like the movie in general. Metias is also involved in the weird thing with her dad, who um..shouldn’t be in this movie at all. Seriously, the whole her never being on the digs and her dad keeping that part of his life secret kind of wrecked it for me. Oh also, spoiler alert, her dad is alive on the island..yay...fun huh?

This is around where the movie did a bit well. It shows the desperation in her very first kill. The game had desperation, showed that she was trying to survive, but did not hold the level of emotion this scene did. Then, it falls apart again. I won’t keep detailing every little thing I hated, but will get to my big point. They completely erased the magic the game had, the literal magic. Himiko was turned into a marter, and the possession and her soldiers they had to get through were completely destroyed. No, Himiko carried a virus that could kill a lot of people, so she killed herself to keep it contained. They literally strip the magic from Tomb Raider. They had to go all scientific..why?

Now, the cinematography was beautiful, although I wish the tomb has been more grand, and not as plain. The actress had such potential, but was put in a box especially with the awful dialogue. This movie could have been so much more. They could have broken the stereotype that movies based on video games are awful, but did not. Also, run all you gamers they look lined up for a second movie.