MOVIE REVIEW: Tomb Raider

I had low expectations for the reboot of the original film that catapulted Angelina Jolie into superstardom back in 2001. She was born to play the British heiress/adventurer Lara Croft based on her looks and attitude alone. Unfortunately like most video games adaptation, the movie is mostly style less substance.

Fast forward this year when another Oscar Best Supporting Actress winner is tasked to portray the heroine. Alicia Vikander who made a career out of costume dramas (A Royal Affair, Tulip Fever and her winning turn in The Danish Girl) does action and she passes. There's life and vibrancy in her Lara Croft that Jolie lacked. Vikander elevated the reboot and without her it would look like just any other generic action movie. 

Tomb Raider has that The Mummy (Brendan Fraser's not Tom Cruise) vibe that's pure escapism at it's best. Given the right director though like Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins perhaps, it could have been a better movie.

MOVIE REVIEW: Red Sparrow

Jennifer Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova, a Russian prima ballerina whose career ending injury forces her to look for work, since she's supporting her ailing mother. Her Uncle (Mattias Schoenaerts) forced Dominika to enter a state-run school who teaches spies in training the art of sexual manipulation. A run-in with a CIA operative (Joel Edgerton) that ultimately resulted with some romantic gestures is her true test as an intelligence agent.

At 2 hours and 20 minutes, Red Sparrow could have been an hour shorter. There were too much scenes that were literally translated from the book by Jay Matthews page by page and word by word. (I was able to borrow the book months before the film was released and it was a struggle to finish it.) The movie is directed by Francis Lawrence who also helmed  JLaw's last three Hunger Games movies. For me splitting Mockingjay into two parts was unnecessary. However, if it was made into just one film then it will be like as Red Sparrow. 

With a commendable performance with Lawrence, an esteemed supporting cast that includes Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling and Mary Louise Parker and an elegant production design that captures cold Russia, Red Sparrow gets bogged down by it's long running time, confusing film editing and violence that's just too much for a film. After mother! and this, it's time for the Oscar winning actress to take on a light role.