In movies, casting means so much. And in the “Tomb Raider” pictures, we have a prime example of how to measure that.
The 2001 and 2003 video-game-inspired films starred Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, a heroine who really enjoyed raiding tombs. You cast Jolie in those films, and already you’re in the realm of the supernatural: She resembled something manufactured in a lab from the DNA of Marilyn Monroe and Sean Connery, held together with steel.
That’s not a knock; in some ways Jolie was ideal casting for such a superficial enterprise. But in the new “Tomb Raider,” we have “Danish Girl” Oscar winner Alicia Vikander taking over the role. It changes a lot.
Vikander isn’t oversized and impossibly glamorous in the Jolie manner. She looks like a normal human being, which makes Lara Croft’s entry into the world of (literally) cliff-hanging stunts and split-second escapes all the more suspenseful. You never truly feared for Angelina Jolie; here, Vikander’s leap over a collapsing cave crevice worries you just a little.
And the movie? Once it finds its feet, it’s kind of fun. There’s a terrible opening reel that involves Lara as a daredevil bicycle messenger (what is this, 1988?), but soon enough she learns the truth about her family legacy.
There’s a missing, wealthy father (Dominic West) who leaves a trail of clues leading to a remote island off Japan, where Lara and a Hong Kong captain (an engaging Daniel Wu) fetch up after wrecking his ship.
This is what you get for steering into the “Devil’s Sea” in search of a secret something that could “rule the fate of mankind.” On the island, a weary foreman (Walter Goggins) works a crew of slaves, searching for an entombed Chinese magic witch empress.
Or something like that. It doesn’t really matter; what matters is that Lara grabs a bow and arrow and outwits her captors. The movie is full of treasure maps and secret codes, and the second half is basically the opening scene of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — all underground booby traps and glittering riches — stretched to an hour.
Which is not a bad thing. Norwegian director Roar Uthaug, who did the far-fetched but exciting disaster flick “The Wave,” has a good eye for how to photograph someone hanging from the wreckage of an old plane that just happens to be perched at the edge of a waterfall. Since this movie has such a scene, we’re in fine shape.
And Vikander holds it together. She’s too good an actress for a film this inane, but “Tomb Raider” definitely benefits from her presence. Extra points: Lara doesn’t need, or get, a love interest — saving the world is actually enough to make her our heroine. Maybe we really are making progress.
“Tomb Raider” (3 stars)
Once it gets past a clumsy start, this new incarnation of the video-game heroine (Alicia Vikander) is actually pretty fun, full of crazy cliffhangers and stunts. Vikander is really too good an actress for this kind of inane movie, but she definitely grounds it in an enjoyable way. The movie gets bonus points for not saddling her with a love interest.
Rating: PG-13, for violence
Opening: Alderwood Mall, Cinebarre Mountlake Terrace, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood Cinemas, Meridian, Seattle 10, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Blue Fox, Cascade Mall, Oak Harbor Plaza
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