Forgettable Films of 2018

Alicia Vikander in Tomb Raider. Image courtesy Warner Bros.

For the last few years I've done a best of list to cap off a given year, along with a special spot dedicated to the worst movie. As 2018 ends, I wanted to try something a little different and instead give some final attention to movies that won't garner a lot of attention in 2019 and beyond. These are movies that don't stand out this year, films you'll skip over while browsing through Netflix, HBO GO, or Amazon Prime. Some are big budget flops that won't deliver a sequel, some are good movies that just can't find an audience, and others are missed opportunities.

Before we pour one out for the forgotten flicks of 2018, here's a short list of some of the best and worst 2018 had to offer.

Highlights: Thoroughbreds, Black Panther, Tully, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, First Man

Lowlights: Death Wish, Fifty Shades Freed, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Uncle Drew

Kyrie Irving in Uncle Drew. Image courtesy Lionsgate.

What is it? A continuation of Kyrie Irving's Pepsi Max commercials starring the eponymous old baller.

Is it good? Nope.

Is any of it memorable? Watching Irving dribble is always a treat. Chris Webber was clearly having a good time, and Tiffany Haddish is always fun. There's not much more to say about this movie otherwise; Irving isn't much of an actor, and the plot is uninspired.

The Sisters Brothers

Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly in The Sisters Brothers. Image courtesy Annapurna Pictures.

What is it? A neo-Western about greed, friendship, and dedication to family.

Is it good? Very much so.

Is any of it memorable? The opening scene is efficient, brutal, and sets the tone for the rest of the movie. John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix show great camaraderie as the titular siblings, and the film continually defies genre expectations. It's a really, really good Western, which sort of dooms it to be ignored.

Life of the Party

Melissa McCarthy in Life of the Party. Image courtesy Warner Bros.

What is it? A modern take on Back to School starring Melissa McCarthy.

Is it good? Not at all.

Is any of it memorable? Maya Rudolph earns a few laughs for being herself. Gillian Jacobs and Heidi Gardner play characters who belong to a way more interesting movie than this. McCarthy's talents are wasted in this movie, which is particularly strange given she and her husband, Ben Falcone, wrote it.

Skyscraper

Dwayne Johnson in Skyscraper. Image courtesy Universal Pictures.

What is it? Dwayne Johnson's take on Die Hard.

Is it good? Unfortunately no.

Is any of it memorable? Just Johnson's performance. This is all the more disappointing considering even his lesser movies offer some redeeming value.

I Feel Pretty

Amy Schumer in I Feel Pretty. Image courtesy STX Films.

What is it? A send up of body swap movies starring Amy Schumer.

Is it good? It's pretty bad.

Is any of it memorable? Aidy Bryant and Busy Philips get a lot from underwritten roles. The premise is clever, with potential for both high comedy and pointed social criticism. It doesn't deliver though due to a mix of poor directing, an unclear premise, and precious few jokes for Schumer.

Tomb Raider

Alicia Vikander in Tomb Raider. Image courtesy Warner Bros.

What is it? A reboot of the Tomb Raider series, with Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft.

Is it good? It's fine.

Is any of it memorable? A couple of the fight sequences are solid. Vikander shows promise as an action heroine. The idea behind watching Croft grow into her eventual role as an iconic adventurer is interesting. With a better script (one that adhered more closely to the video game) and stronger direction this could have been a pretty spectacular action flick.

Tomb Raider fails Lara Croft

Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. Image courtesy Warner Bros.

There is something at least moderately superb about the reboot to the Tomb Raider series. The fundamental idea for what the movie is capable of being is at least on screen long enough to draw the interest of viewers, before they are swept away by pablum ripped off from far better movies. It eventually devolves into mildly competent action flick, a movie with nothing interesting to see and little to say about the capabilities of its protagonist. Tomb Raider neither overwhelms nor underwhelms; it’s pretty placid for an action movie.

The good stuff occurs in spurts in acts one and two, when Tomb Raider centers the story on its neophyte adventurer Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander). It's an origin story, but one in which the character's inexperience feels appropriate because the movie portrays her as someone clearly over her head. Her first moments on screen come in the midst of her losing a fight handily, which is followed by yet another loss in a bicycle chase through the streets of London. The set up is there to show a woman evolving into a hero, brave enough to put herself into difficult situations but not savvy or strong enough to pull off a victory. It's interesting to see a character take their lumps in the early going, plow through the difficulties as they level up and improve their strength, stamina, and experience. The culmination comes in act two, where Lara brutally murders a man for the first time. It's a moment of surprise and agony for Lara, the fact that she killed a person and the realization that she's capable of doing such a terrible thing in the first place, and Vikander sells the moment quite well. It’s brutal and effective, an abbreviated window into an action movie.

For some reason though the movie largely abandons that story. Tomb Raider's undercuts Lara's growth by taking a lot of the action and courage out of her hands. She's protected by the male characters around her, whether its her new friend Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) or by her father Richard (Dominic West). Instead of letting Lara fight for herself, the men are always on hand to save her. The change from letting Lara get beaten down to protecting her is abrupt and damaging, undermining one of her defining character traits. If the movie is going to put her in a dangerous situations, it needs to allow her to get out of it on her own accord and not rely on someone else to do it for her. Even Richard's presence in Tomb Raider hurts Lara as a character. Richard serves as a narrative crutch, a figure to both get Lara to go on the adventure and to protect her from making difficult choices. He's not that interesting of a character, or at least allowed to be that interesting of a character aside from some random discussions about hallucinations. Richard only exists because the filmmakers couldn't come up with a better way for Lara to improve, and because tossing in daddy issues is a really easy way to build a character.

Throwing parental problems at an action character has been done, just like the rest of Tomb Raider. As the movie goes on the similarities to the Indiana Jones series become more and more notable, to the point where certain plot points are ripped off blatantly. The action sequences exist, functional and largely uninteresting. The final twist is ultimately asinine, as is Lara's fight with the movie's villain Vogel (Walton Goggins) at the en. Although it is pretty nice to have Boyd Crowder around, Tomb Raider misses a great opportunity to build out a fascinating in concept villain. Perhaps without Richard the movie might have built Vogel into the villain it needs.

Calling Tomb Raider another indictment against adapting video games into movies is a little unfair. This movie was not done well, but the fault lies with the method and not the quality of the source material. After three movies (two campy adventures with Angelina Jolie and this one), there still remains a lot of potential with the Lara Croft character. She's still a great adventurer, smart and strong and very dangerous because of it. Tomb Raider shows the material is there for a good adaptation; it's the filmmakers who keep bringing it down.

Review: Two and a half out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

 

Rating: PG-13

Run time: 118 minutes

Genre: Action

Ask Away
 
Target audience: People who like video game adaptations and those who hope Alicia Vikander becomes the next big action star.

Take the whole family?: This is pretty violent and it has enough body horror toward the end to discomfort young kids.

Theater or Netflix?: Stay home.

Is Vikander an action star?: Maybe with better material. She sells the painful moments pretty well, although she does succumb to an epic case of Tom Cruise running and spends a decent amount of time shrieking. I'm not sold on her as an action star, but she's good enough to deserve a closer look.

Watch this instead?: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the basis for a lot of Tomb Raider's plot, so it makes sense to just go to the source.