Well another month has come and gone, so that means its time for another of my "Monthly Movie Roundups". I only saw two of the new films released this past March and even did a full review for one of them. However, since I am a consummate professional (amateur) film critic, I will tirelessly slave away (copy/paste) to give all (two) of my loving and adoring fans the quality (trash) content you deserve. (No one deserves this.) So I will say once again without fail, and I apologize Bud, it is time to dive right in!
Released: March 16 2018
Director: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu
Trailer
Plot: Ever since her adventurer father disappeared while she was young, Lara has grown up actively distancing herself from the family name. After finding his secret study full of his research about a secret island off the coast of japan, she decides to follow in his footsteps and solve the mystery of his disappearance.
Opinion: I'm sad to say that this newest video game to movie transition did not go as smoothly as hoped. That is not to say that this new Tomb Raider is a bad movie, it just doesn't do anything that you haven't seen before. None of the action sequences are particularly exciting, the story follows a very predictable path, and worst of all it never really nails the development of Lara from reluctant adventurer, to full blown heroine like the game did. Now to be fair the game had about fifteen hours to do so, and this movie only gets a scant two. When you are hoping to introduce a new version of a character though, you have to do better than this. Not everything is such gloomy news though. In the plus column for the film is a terrific performance from Alicia Vikander as Lara, she really treats the role seriously and has a few standout moments that really felt like the game version of Ms Croft. Heres hoping Alicia gets another shot at this role and the film makers put in a bit more effort, because out of all the game properties out there being adapted to film, Tomb Raider seems to me to be the most logical one to break the video game to movie curse.
Released: March 29 2018
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn
Plot: The creator of the virtual world known as "The Oasis" dies and leaves a contest in the game that when won will give complete control of the game and company to the winner. The whole world is in on the quest including a money hungry corporation hell bent on ruining the game for any but the most wealthy players.
Opinion: Based on the hugely popular book of the same name by Ernest Cline, this sci-fi/action-adveturer was extremely enjoyable for me, despite not loving the source materiel. The film makes some welcome changes to the plot and characters, and introduces some new and absolutely gorgeous set pieces. Spielberg is back in fine form directing his first popcorn flick since "The Adventures of Tintin" in 2011, proving once again that he knows exactly how to put out a movie full of pure fun. Sadly not everything is wine and roses though, the film feels quite rushed at times and there are some poor performances from side characters. None if that affected my overall enjoyment of the film though and I highly recommend seeing it in theaters while you can.
Well that concludes my "Roundup" of the new releases I saw this past March. Did you see anything I didn't? Differing opinion then me? Please feel free to let me know in the comments below, and as always thank you for reading and I'll see you next time!
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