FREEZE FRAME: “Tomb Raider” (PG-13), “Love, Simon” (PG-13), “7 Days in Entebbe” (PG-13)

One day, someone will make a truly good movie based on a video game. We’re still waiting. Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander is the latest to log in for a paycheck. “Tomb Raider” reboots the old Angelina Jolie franchise and the results are loud, busy and mind numbing. The so-so special effects are a distraction and it lacks the humor that makes its obvious inspiration, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a classic. Vikander is good, but the filmmakers work hard to set up a sequel, which, I suspect, will never happen. No 1-up for “Tomb Raider.”

“Love, Simon” isn’t perfect, either, but why nitpick? In this comic coming of age film based on a popular YA novel, Nick Robinson plays a closeted gay teen who makes some bad choices to prevent people from discovering his secret. The cast, which includes Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel as his supportive parents, is likable and the movie has a positive spirit. It plays a bit too much like a made for TV movie, however.

It’s amazing that one of the most daring rescue operations of all time has yet to be made into a fully satisfying film. “7 Days in Entebbe” is at least the fifth attempt. Rosamund Pike and Daniel Brühl play wannabe revolutionaries who skyjack an Air France jet in 1967 and hold the 94 Israeli passengers hostage at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda. Although competently made and well acted, the movie doesn’t build sufficient tension. “7 Days” just seems like that’s how long it takes to watch.

Also opening this week, “November” is a sci-fi fantasy film from Estonia based on an acclaimed novel. “Josie” is a dark film noir thriller starring Sophie Turner and Dylan McDermott. “The Young Karl Marx” is a biopic about the early days of the famed socialist thinker.


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