7:30 PM, 3rd May, 2018
Fifteen years may not be that long, but in Hollywood it’s an eternity. Which is why everyone’s favourite video game adventurer Lara Croft is now back for another go around on the big screen. And she’s a far cry from the character played by Angelina Jolie in her two films from days of yore.
In this incarnation, Lara (Vikander) is a young heiress of 21, determined to forge her own path away from her family’s global empire. When she accidentally uncovers a message from her father (West), who vanished when she was just a girl, Lara finds new purpose in life. Leaving everything behind, she sets off into uncharted territory in search of his last known-destination, a fabled tomb on a mysterious island off the coast of Japan – if it even exists at all.
Cue action, adventure, tank tops, bows, arrows, guns, gravity-defying leaps, shady corporations and all manner of ominous-sounding place names. Vikander takes a break from corsets and winning Oscars to lead her own action franchise hopeful, with the likes of Walton Goggins, Nick Frost, Daniel Wu, and Kristin Scott Thomas in tow. Leave it to these guys if there’s a good film to be found amidst all of the video gamer fan service.
Adrian Ma