Tomb Raider is a competent meh. I watched this because curiosity got the bettet of me, I've really liked the director's Norwiegan films, and this has got a better calibur of cast than who usally signs onto these sorts of things. Its not great, but it doesn't embarrass itself either. Alicia Vikander really worked hard on this, the physiciality she brings to the role is by far the best thing in it. But outside of scenes of her running, climbing, fighting, there's just not a lot there besides perfunctionary story and character beats. Its a reboot that manages to already feel tired.
Somehow Pacific Rim: Uprising manages to be more cartoony than its predecessor (thank goodness for that plucky teenage girl, eh), and also way dumber (representative line of dialog "We've only got one shot at this. Well we better make it count."). But I learned just very recently that a great way to disable my critical thinking skills to see a robot Van-Damme kick a monster in the face. Its very much the Fast&Furious approach to sequel building, wherin the ante gets upped in spectacle, people keep dropping lines about 'family', and Scott Eastwood appears for some reason. It acts like its the sequel to a widely popular, mass market hit rather than the most expensive ever piece of nerd bait that Guillermo Del Toro somehow convinced some foolish studio to let him make. It lacks much of the charm of its forebearer, but I had a great time watching it in my local IMAX theater. Quality robot punching can forgive a number of shortcomings, and it actually keeps to the spirit of not the original film, but at least the many things it pays affectionate homage to by being a dumber, fleeter, further installment.
