Perfectly adorable

Best movie ever!

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Whilst Jolie is undoubtedly a strong actress, her Croft was over-the-top, emotionless and cynically self-aware. The movies she starred in were muddled, and drew from one too many genres. The reboot is far better all round, and firmly grounded in the adventure genre. Lara no longer looks like a fetish model, no longer pouts at the camera, and has some vulnerability. She's an actual human being this time around, thanks to Vikander's wonderful portrayal, which goes beyond the page. The first act is the most successful in my view. The script establishes Croft's emotional wound, the flawed persona that's arised from that, and takes the time to create some moments of empathy. It's classic in it's plot structure, right down to Croft's initial refusal of the call to adventure. This movie speaks in the language of cinema, unlike the older ones. It's solid all round, with some likeable side-characters and some unique action. It's weaknesses however lie with the tomb-raiding, and later set-pieces which strain the suspension of disbelief. There's an overuse of CGI, a bland villain, a not-so-interesting MacGuffin, a tomb with overly high tech booby-traps. But all in all, you could do worse thanks to a well structured plot, and a great turn in from Alicia Vikander. I know a sequel is up in the air, but I do hope WB have the sense to keep Vikander onboard. It's not the greatest start possible to the franchise, but it's by no means a misfire

Review: No matter how hard they try, they just can't get this franchise right! The director chose to go in the direction of an Indiana Jones movie, which really didn't work because none of the characters had any charisma, and the various twists throughout the film, were really predictable. I also wasn't that impressed with Alicia Vikander (Lara Croft) because she looked too young to be battling against grown men, and she didn't play the intelligent Indiana role convincingly. Anyway, after the mysterious disappearance of her father, Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West), Lara makes a living as a bike courier, and she is told by her father's partner that if she does not claim her vast inheritance, her father's country estate, Croft Manor will be sold off. Lara reluctantly accepts the deal, and she gains access to a secret chamber in her father's tomb, where she finds a message detailing his research into Himiko, the mythical Queen of Yamatai, who was said to command the power over life and death. Her father tells her to burn all of his works because it can cause harm to the world if it gets in the wrong hands but she decides to follow his journal to try and work out what exactly happened to him. As she has no money, she decides to sell a precious necklace that her father gave her, so she can go to Hong Kong and begin her search. She hires Lu Ren, who's a captain of a ship, and also lost his father while he was travelling with Richard, and they head off to the Death Sea and the island of Yamatai, which is marked on Richard's maps. After barely managing to abandon ship whilst going through a violent storm, Lara is picked up by Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins), who is also trying to find Himiko but he wants to use her powers to do bad. Lara soon realises that he has already gone through her bag, and he has found her father's journal, which maps the route to Himiko. He then uses her as a slave, along with some other seamen, including Lu Ren. Now that Mathias knows the correct location of Himiko, they start to make there way there but Lara escapes from Mathias henchmen, and miraculously meets her father in a cave, believe it or not. He tells her that he has stayed on the island to prevent Mathias from finding Himiko, so Lara leaves the cave to try and retrieve the journal that Mathias stole from her. Richard then makes his way to Himiko's tomb but he is captured by Mathias, who threatens to kill him if he doesn't open the tomb. Lara agrees to open the tomb, to save her father, and when they finally get inside, they navigate through a series of booby traps and locate Himiko's coffin. 2 of Mathias's soldiers force open the tomb, and they become infected while they are trying to move her corpse. Images around the tomb reveal that Himiko, who was apparently immune to the virus herself and was a carrier, came to the island voluntarily rather than being forced as the legends imply, sacrificing herself to contain the virus. As Mathias can't take the body, he takes one of her fingers instead. During the confusion, Lara and Richard overpower the remaining soldiers but Mathias escapes, and Richard becomes infected. As Richard knows that there is no way of saving himself, he says that he will blow up the tomb, while Lara tries to stop Mathias. It really does sound more interesting than it really is! None of the characters really stood out, and the plot wasn't that great. The little twist at the end leaves the movie open for a sequel but I won't be rushing to see it. There wasn't much action through the whole film but there's loads of swinging and jumping, just like the game. I'm sure that there are loads of people that will disagree with this review, judging by the profit it made at the box office but I personally lost interest after a while. On the plus side, it did look impressive, and the booby traps made the film intense for a moment but apart from that, I wasn't that impressed. Disappointing! Round-Up: This movie was directed by Roar Uthaug, whose previous movies have mainly been made for a Norwegian market. For his first major release, I personally think that this task was a bit too much for him because it seemed more like a Mummy/Indiana movie than the beginning of a Tomb Raider saga. He did quite well in the CGI department but I would get another director for the sequel. Budget: $94million Worldwide Gross: $274millionGenre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Kristin Scott Thomas, Derek Jacobi, Alexandre Willaume, Adrian Collins and Jaime Winstone. 4/10

I had no expectations, just thought I'd kill time with a nice action movie. Well.. It doesn't even mesure up to that. It started all right. I liked the scenes with the bike rides in London. Nice action. Something new. Nice filming. But once she leaves London to go look for her father, it is all down hill from there. So many plot holes and just boring stuff, that is insulting my intelligens: Why is the elequent guy on the boat, -who obviously went to the US and got an education and a perfect american-english accent - back on that boat? What?, he just desided to ditch the oportunities of the US and come back to the s...hole he came from, after taking an expensive education, and submerce in alcohol and filth for no reason? Yeah, right.. Oh - and they must be made of some special kind of tough, when they can survive a storm that absolutely trashes their steel boat on the cliffs, shreading it to pieces, but somehow be washed gently a shore by a tiny wave in the middle of that awfull thunderstorm, cough a bit, but without a scratch. And right after having body-river rafted on a speeding rapid, miraculesly NOT bumping knees, elbows or head on the countless sharp rocks of that river - plus be able to hold on (!!) to a bloody parashute with just her two arms, while it unfolds and saves her from getting killed going down through the trees. A parashute. In your arms. Through trees. Oh please..And it goes on and on. It is so anoying. And once you notice, you just can't stop noticing all of it. Like; why would you put a intricate lock on a gate, if you realy dont want anyone to enter or exit? Why not just seal the entrence with a wall or something? Locks are ment to open, right?And why not just kill the bad guy with that ax you throw, in stead of throwing it right next to him, then fist fight with him, then kick out the ladder from under him and then feed him the poisonous desease? Just use the ax to kill him in the first place - job done. Oh well. Good acting though.

As an ardent TombRaider fan, having played all games, the previous couple of Tombraider films were dissapointing to say the least. So I had high hopes for this one. Surprisingly it delivered. I loved how real Alicias Lara Croft felt. Just like the last games this movie turned Lara into a real person rather than a comic book character or Angelina Jolies pin up-girl. I also loved how they manage to recreated the magic feel of the two last games. They took us to the familiar Island but from there the story diverges. The story was good enough, not spectacular, but compared to the older TR-movies, a huge step forward. Also better than the last Indiana Jones-movie. So it is not nearly as bad as many make it out to be. I certainly hope for a sequel.