Moving past the glambot approach of the original TR films, this reboot tries to recast the female heroine as a modern girl of her times. The transition however from a struggling young woman dealing with trying to make ends meet and finding her way in life to the outright invincible hero from the video game is an shaky one.
The new Laura Croft (Alicia Vikander) looks like she spent many hours in the gym and as such presents a much more muscular hero than the one that came before. This allows more close ups during the now more convincing physical altercations. Not unlike the transitions made available by Daniel Craig when he became the new Bond all those year ago.
The film still over relies on driving the action scenes with computer generated special effects but the hand to hand combat moments are more visceral than before. The solving puzzle aspect is really only hinted at. This is also an origin story so future films might get the mix more balanced.
There are moments of genuine emotional connection with the on screen actions and actors but unfortunately they are often submerged in a film that struggles to keep the view engaged during its more than ample 118 minute running time. Other reboots have takes a few tries to hit the mark so there is always hope next time around.
Rob Hudson
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