ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPLAINTS I have heard about treadmills is that they are boring. They don’t take the person anywhere is a frequent excuse why a person will not use one. I used to jog outside on the streets until I was almost hit by a car that was making a fast turn. That event was the last time I jogged on the streets. I tried running on sidewalks but I could not handle all the cracks and debris I found. To avoid them I switched to jogging on a treadmill. When this transition took place treadmills did not have video screens attached to them. I would turn on loud music as motivation and off I went on my run. Currently I have seen treadmills with video screens attached for the runner to either follow a programmed scenic trail or television shows. At the clubs I work at there are large monitors suspended in a long row from the ceiling facing the treadmills, so members have further options of what they want to look at while jogging. I can see where this could help or motivate a person to exercise.     THERE IS ANOTHER COMMENT I have heard regarding people who jog. Some say the person is running away or to something they have on their mind. I do not know if I would make a blanket statement like that, but speaking for myself I do get lost in my thoughts while jogging. If there is something bothering me I usually focus on it and before I know it 30-60 minutes have passed by. But when you think about it isn’t any leisure activity prone to letting one experience a time of reflection? There are some members at the fitness center I am sure are working on some issue in their head as they go through their paces on the exercise equipment. Jogging, along with any aerobic activity, can produce endorphins which are hormones that get released in the brain to reduce pain and make one feel relaxed or full of energy, according to the dictionary. Knowing this as I do, I had to wonder what the main character in this action adventure film was going towards because she was doing an awful lot of running.     FINALLY COMING TO TERMS WITH her father’s death Lara Croft, played by Alicia Vikander (Tulip Fever, The Danish Girl), was about to sign on as heir to the Croft fortune and take over the company’s businesses until she was handed a puzzle by the executor. The puzzle was only the first piece into solving the mysterious disappearance of her father Lord Richard Croft, played by Dominic West (Chicago, The Forgotten). With Kristin Scott Thomas (Darkest Hour, The Party) as Ana Miller, Walter Goggins (The Hateful Eight, Diablo) as Mathias Vogel and Daniel Wu (The Man with the Iron Fists, One Nite in Mongkok) as Lu Ren; this reboot was centered on Alicia’s character and she did not disappoint. She was more than capable to helm this story and in fact she would be the only reason to watch this picture. Some of her action scenes were crazy to watch; but overall they were not enough to support the weak script. There was little development of the characters and to tell you the truth I thought the special effects were nothing special. If I did not know better I could have sworn the writers took their inspiration from the Raiders of the Lost Ark story. The story here did not appear to be well thought out in my opinion; Lara was too busy running all the time to allow the viewers to fully connect with her and her plight.

2 stars