I’m confident in saying we have out first successful video game film adaptation. Tomb Raider was a blast to watch. Alicia Vikander is amazing in her portrayal of the character, Lara Croft. She was a complete bad ass who was intelligent, brave, and grounded in reality. I love that she wasn’t hypersexualized. Replacing the coochie cutter shorts for pants was a great trade-off.

There are a lot of elements borrowed from the 2013 video game. You see the journey of Lara Croft as she becomes the fearless warrior/explorer that we all know. The second act of the movie is an ode to classic blockbuster Indiana Jones. Lots of moments where I held my breath because the suspense was so real. Death was imminent for all the characters involved.

The visuals of Tomb Raider was spot on. Each shot looked like an elaborate painting come to life. The wilderness was organic, treacherous, and unforgiving. Alicia Vikander expressed fragility as well as ferocity throughout the entire story. You saw her suffer, struggle, and make mistakes. She wasn’t the perfect acrobatic assassin who never gets hit while combating hundreds of enemies. This film has great exposition and is a world I’d love to revisit. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.