A Forgettable Tomb Raider, but a Hopeful Future for the Reinvented Lara Croft

When you learned there was a new Tomb Raider coming to the big screen you should have been unsurprised – Lara Croft has been high on remakes lately, from its Tomb Raider comic from Dark Horse to the video game reboots that inspired it with a sleeker, more athletic heroine. The new iteration of Tomb Raider follows suit, playing appropriately like a video game, following a younger Lara Croft closer to the roots of her daredevil antics. And while the movie is fun, you will remember it for being keenly unmemorable outside Lara herself, played by Alicia Vikander. The first act introduces Lara as instantly likeable as she’s being choked out on the mat of a boxing ring, needing to be convinced to tap out before she loses consciousness in a meaningless spar session. That’s that Vegeta fighting spirit right there – we don’t love you for winning, we love you for that pride. Just like that, Lara is shown early as a fighter and adventurer, capped off by a high-speed bike race through the city that feels something like Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Premium Rush. Lara herself is endearing in the unique way of a rich person who doesn’t hide their wealth but forfeits it altogether – this wealthy heiress running bike races to earn money – trying to get by, at least for a while, on her own. Her spirit is the type to want to prove something to themselves, that they can be fearless, and it doesn’t take long to get a feel for the pacing of this Lara’s version of Tomb Raider as fast, erratic, athletic ac…