(film review) - Tomb Raider

I don't want this to be a long review, but I would like to say first and foremost, this makes for a very interesting review.  Why? Well, I am a gamer and I've always been a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise from when it first came out.  And No! I'm not talking about the films starring Angelina Jolie, I'm talking about the games they were based off of which came out in 1996.  I'm pretty sure a few of you reading this were not even born at this point or could hold a computer games controller, but it was a very long time ago.

You see, the very first game came out when I was in my teens (please don't, I know) and although Lara Croft was essentially a big breasted, no shit taking, gun totting hottie in short shorts and a tight top, the game was actually very decent.  Yes it appealed to teenaged boys, but it also appealed to teenaged girls.  I guess the aesthetic before people started bending over and/or showing their back on Instagram.  But that is a whole different thing altogether.
Lara is an archaeologist similar to Indiana Jones and she's basically out here discovering artifacts but comes across a tyrannical lady named Natla who wants to discover a artifact to become immortal - or something like that.  Then Tomb Raider 2 came out which was also good and after that, 3, 4 etc etc and I dropped off after 2 because the games didn't seem to stretch the imagination in terms of story and gameplay.  Essentially, it was the same shit and it got boring for me, real quick.  Years later, I got Angel of Darkness, which was dry and then once Legend and Underworld came out, we were back on form.  More of what they were going for in the first couple of games and more dynamic graphics, gameplay and challenging puzzles.  I enjoyed those games.  Then they launched the Anniversary of the original which was amazing and then they rebooted the franchise.  Needless to say, I got all the games since Legend and they have been brilliant... especially the reboot in which THIS film is loosely based on.

I didn't watch the Angelina Jolie movies as they looked very cornball and cheesy and very different to the games at the time, but due to this one being based on the recent reboot in which I thoroughly enjoyed, I thought it was only right to watch and undoubtedly compare the movie to the game but to try my best to take the movie as a whole on its own merit.

In short (well, as short as I can), Lara has set sail to discover a mythical island but when her ship gets destroyed through a storm, she is kidnapped, escapes and then finds herself fending for herself and using her survival instincts to kill wildlife to survive.  When she is almost raped, is when she takes her first life and discovers a cult leader named Mathias who is hellbent on releasing the spirit of Himliko for reasons I cannot remember and Lara has to solve puzzles and travel through various terrain in order to stop this mad man and escape the island, if the island will let her escape.  In a nutshell.

This film cherry picks from the above synopsis of the game and if I am honest, I was fairly underwelmed with what they chose from the game to adapt into the film and what they did with the story beats in comparison to the game.  However with that said, the movie was an interesting watch.

In short, the story is similar to the game.  We have a crazy guy named Mathias (Walton Goggins), check.  We have a ancient woman named Himliko, check.  Lara (Alicia Vikander) has to survive and escape the island, check.  There are also some moments which are directly lifted from the game, albeit a few changes, but there is a general flow and storyline to the movie, which involves Lara's father and family secrets.

After watching the movie, I felt like, the movie is only a small part of the game in terms of story, in comparison.  If you enjoyed the movie and don't mind playing the game, then you would love the game as it is more fleshed out and layered.  The game is a cross between some kind of survival horror (in places) and does a great deal to keep you on your toes the entire time and always concerned and wondering how Lara will get out of this situation because it seems very dire.  This movie does not capture any tension at all.  I mean, there IS YouTube in which you can probably watch the gameplay with cutscenes and stuff if you really want, but it also does not do enough to make you feel that invested in some of the characters and although the plot is flimsy (just like a video game), it does not do enough to have you buy into the mystical world and how much of a threat the entire island is as well as the people on it, unlike the game.  This is well the game excels and where the movie could have done a lot to try and capture.

Have a watch though, it is a decent film regardless and I cannot fault any of the acting and cinematography as it was all pretty standard, but 1, doesn't play like a Jolie movie and 2 doesn't play out like the game as it IS its own thing, but a decent computer game movie, unlike countless of others.

(film review) - Ready Player One

If I'm going to be perfectly honest with you, I've not seen a Steven Spielberg movie in a while.  Well directed by anyway, as he does produce a lot of movies.  The last directed movie I saw was The Adventures of Tintin and the last produced movie, well executive produced anyway, Transformers: The Last Knight.  While I fell asleep watching Tintin (but I did like it, I was just exhausted), I can say I didn't really like Transformers: The Last Knight because although it was the usual Transformers fun, it was essentially not that great.  So, seeing the trailer for this movie and all the easter eggs, I knew this was going to have, made for a really interesting watch.  And having seen the movie, I can tell you exactly how it was.

In the real world 18 year old Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), otherwise known as his avatar handle Parzival in the virtual world is known as a Gunter.  He lives in Columbus Ohio with his Aunt and does what most people do in their living conditions, escape reality to enter the virtual world of the Oasis.  The Oasis (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation) created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow is a place where you can do whatever you want, go wherever you want and be whomever you want to be.  Wade aka Parzival is an avid gift hunter and spends his time tracking gifts and collecting coins, but when James Halliday dies, a prerecorded message went out to all users enabling them to own and control the Oasis if they are able to find the 3 keys hidden in the Oasis.  But with power, comes corruption and corporate.  Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), the CEO of Innovative Online Industries also wants to seek out the 3 hidden keys to control the Oasis himself, so the ultimate hunt and a game of cat and mouse ensues as everyone in the Oasis tries to track down all the clues to finding the hidden keys with a powerful and hungry Nolan who will stop at nothing, even if it means real world crime, just to achieve his goal.

I tried not to spoil this movie by giving too much away, but with that said, the plot it straight forward, but the fun comes with the chase, the tension and of course, the many many many easter eggs littered throughout the movie.  An Easter Egg is a item/object that represents real life or universal pop culture.  It is a message, image, or feature hidden in a video game, film, or other, usually electronic, medium and it's sole purpose is to be found but may represent, ie. real life or pop culture.  A lot of films will do this, but if you are still unsure and you have played video games or have watched TV/Movies over the years and still do not know what an Easter Egg is, THIS movie will DEFINITELY have you understand what one is before the movie is even quarter of it's way through.  Another reason as to what makes this movie fun to watch is EXACTLY this and how many you can find.  Steven Spielberg (and just like the book this movie is based on) uses all the references he possibly can grabbing from past directing work, games and Warner Bros. content.  This means that, not only is the DeLorean time machine from the film Back to the Future franchise directed by Robert Zemeckis in it, a film which is under Steven Spielberg's production company and Spielberg being the mentor of Robert, but there is a very brief Batman cameo, a Warner Bros intellectual Property and a prominent Iron Giant cameo among many many more.  Not to give too much away but you will see popular game characters and as we are in the world of gaming, a lot of things you will come to recognise as a gamer, like a lot of things you'd come to recognise as a watcher of movies.  Wreck it Ralph did something similar.

Spielberg will have you rewatching this movie over and over again because not only is it fun, but the easter eggs alone will keep you busy.  The acting is superb although cheesy in some places and if i'm honest, I didn't realise the film would have more than a few curse words, but if you are a gamer, curse words are apart of your vocabulary.  Although I had only seen Tye as Cyclops of the recent X-Men franchise at this point, he was very good in this movie and acting along side Ben, made for good tension and drama.  It was also nice to see, Hannah John-Kamen, who I had recently seen in Tomb Raider and is in the up and coming Ant-Man and the Wasp.

If you like Nostalgia, movies, gaming and that classic Steven Spielberg directed movies such as Batteries Not Included or anything else you found fun in the 80's, this movie is definitely for you!  Plus, there is no way you will see EVERY Easter Egg in one viewing, have a re-watch.