Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

I am not here to defend any plot snags this film might have. I however thought it would be cool to come here and say that I liked this movie. It was quite entertaining. Maybe not always "riveting" but fun action cheese nonetheless. Jolie brought a computer woman to life well and the movie is a good rental, maybe even an unpopular purchase.

I gave it 7/10 stars.

I've watched this movie around five times in total now and every time feels like the first, it's a lot of fun. The ludicrous plot about the planets aligning always surprises me that's what the writers went with, as opposed to you know, raiding tombs?

I watched the special features on the blu-ray and saw one of the creators make a statement that the film wasn't at all "cheesy, corny or camp" - did this guy watch the same version I did? The film is all of those things, from the opening scene in which Lara fights a training robot to then insert a mix-tape cassette, Lara's padded pointy breasts, and not forgetting the film ends on a freeze frame shot of Lara holding her guns - yeah not at all...

If somehow you've never seen this film until today, don't take it at all seriously or you won't enjoy it, just switch your brain off and you'll likely get something out of it.

Like Mr. Schwarzenegger is the one and only Conan (+Terminator) and Peter Sellers the one and only Inspector Clouseau, Angelina Jolie embodies Lara Croft to the day. Yes, both movies (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life)) are far from perfect but at least they tried to capture the spirit of the games - character- and story-wise. Alicia Vikander may be a good looking woman and a decent actor but she is in no way Lara Croft (that "modernized" Lara is just plain terrible). Anyway, as most movie adaptions of games are rather total fails or subpar, both Tomb Raider movies starring Angelina are solid adventure and action food.

What a great actress she is! I love world culture so this movie lived up to that, unfortunately the dialog/plot was sticky and predictable- Angie is capable of so much more. She carried this movie on her back and pulled the stunts off with gusto and grace(I want a bungee exercise room!). She is a great heroine. I am inspired to raid tombs myself now, or perhaps help refugees as Angelina does in real life. I hope for a sequel. This movie made me a Jolie fan and I'll see her future films and rent her past ones. Overall, a beautiful film to look at, but doesnt allow the watcher to get completely immersed into Lara's world. I give it a 7...

"Tomb Raider" is a harmless diversion that should please its core audience. I loved the performance of Angelina Jolie, who brings the computer game heroine Lara Croft to life. I watched an interview with Jolie in which she said that she really "became Lara Croft".

With her mock British accent, Jolie is a lot of fun as the adventurer-archaeologist who is equal parts Bruce Wayne and Indiana Jones, but with a much better body.

Taking its cue from the video game, the film's screenplay is more of a puzzle than a plot. The script is a patchwork of ideas that plays like a Greatest Hits collection of other films. It deals with end of the world stuff, but it never feels apocalyptic. It's controlled chaos, utterly lacking in surprise. The script jumps from one expected moment to the next, never apologizing for its lack of originality.

At least Jolie understands the limitations of the script. There's enough conviction in her performance to make you want to believe in Lara Croft, the spunky heiress is who is equally at home in her spacious mansion or within the catacombs of a lost tomb. She's guided by the spirit (both literally and figuratively) of her late adventurer father, Lord Croft (Jon Voight), and assisted by an archaeologist Alex West (Daniel Craig) and cyber-geek creator Bryce (Noah Taylor).

The film opens like "Raiders of the Lost Ark," with Lara Croft deep inside one of those musty, dusty tombs. Instead of outrunning a giant boulder, Croft squares off against a mechanical monster, a robotic menace that seems to come out of nowhere. It doesn't. We learn that it's a creation of Bryce, used to keep Croft on her toes.

Angelina Jolie made the perfect Lara Croft; her facial expressions and sly smirks added a personality to the flick that I can only imagine the video game is missing. She seemed smart, brave, and composed as well as full of emotion. Okay, maybe the parts with her father (real-life papa Jon Voight) were a little over the top, but since the whole movie is just eye-candy anyway they seemed to fit.

The fight scenes among ruins got me. How can you not love Lara Croft jumping onto a swinging obelisk to smash a glass eye that holds the key to time, or sledding thru an ice cave being pulled by dogs? Or the scene where the villains jump through her castle windows as she rappels around the walls, smashing chandeliers and pistol-whipping bad guys? What's a girl to do but hop on her motorbike, take a guy out sideways, and race off at 100 miles an hour? Excellent.