Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

I don't play video games, had never heard of Tomb Raider. I stumbled across this film on cable and absolutely loved it!

The person writing this usually tends to like movie classics and classical actresses. Rarely do I enjoy action films. This one is an exception.

Angelina Jolie is spectacularly fit, and in top acting form for this physically demanding role. I admit that I like the multi-talented Jolie. I found her to be a very believable Lady Lara Croft. Her acting, stunts (which she did most of herself), and her wonderful diction with a British accent, were a true delight. I watched this movie on cable at least ten times before I did something very, very rare for me: I purchased the DVD. Barring this film, the ONLY pre-recorded movies I own are classics.

The plot may be a bit on the thin side. It is, afterall, designed *after* a video game. Another thing I enjoyed about the film was the fact that while there was a great deal of violence, there was no unnecessary gore or vulgar language - read: buggar vs. what it could be.

I have to highly recommend this film for anyone who enjoys pure escapism at it's best! My 75 year old mother liked the movie, and she has very good taste when film is involved.

Ok, Tomb Raider may not be the greatest action film I have seen but it still is a quite good movie. Although it has borrowed the elements from Indiana Jones -films and its story is very flimsy, Tomb Raider was a fast-moving and enjoyable picture which has a great and striking action scenes. The best thing in a whole movie was of course Angelina Jolie. She did a great work as Lara, not only portraying her as a

hard-boiled fighter but also a sensitive woman. So, although movie is typical and imperfect, it is watchable especially for Jolie and

action sequences.

In the movies there is good nonsense and bad nonsense. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is 100% good nonsense! It won't win any awards or bowl you over with textured and deep themes or performances, but what it will provide you with is a good looking well made slice of pure fun!

Angeline Jolie is wonderfully likeable as Lara, plus her English accent is flawless which further endears you to her. Red Dwarf's Chris Barrie pops up as Lara's butler and the two have genuine chemistry together when they are on screen. The film is very well directed by Simon West and it has a very polished sheen to it all plus the pacing is spot on, which for a game adaptation is rarer than hen's teeth.

Smashing good fun which is surprisingly well made and well performed too.

Highly recommended for a boozy Saturday in or a lazy Sunday on the couch.

Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie), a wealthy adventurer who seeks after lost artifacts for the sheer thrill finds a mysterious clock hidden in her family home that activates at the same time as an upcoming alignment of the nine planets. Lara discovers the clock hides a special key that will lead whoever holds it to the lost artifact the Pyramid of Light which is said to have the ability to control the flow of time. Meanwhile, the Illuminati is also seeking the Pyramid of Light with Manfred Powell (Iain Glen) and Lara's rival tomb raider Alex West (Daniel Craig) trying to stay one step ahead of Lara.

Released in 1996, Tomb Raider developed by Toby Gard and Core Design became one of the defining video game franchises of the 3D era of video games with the series laying the foundation for other third person platforming games with influences seen even to this day with the likes of Uncharted franchise. Of particular novelty for the series was in its central character Lara Croft who originally intended as a male character was changed as to not invite comparisons to the Indiana Jones franchise. Lara Croft's popularity remains strong to this day with the character's unique look recognized even outside the gaming community and serving as the cornerstone of a franchise that encompasses not only the games, but also comics, action figures, and an upcoming anime series. Development on a Tomb Raider movie had begun in fits and starts through the 90s with drafts by Mortal kombat: Annihilation's Brent V. Friedman and the Street Fighter movie's Steven E. De Souza rejected for one reason or another, and the casting of Angelina Jolie met with mixed responses among audiences. Despite this, the movie became the highest grossing movie based on a video game at the time as well as the highest grossing female fronted action film. While Critical reception tended to skew negative (with the exception of Roger Ebert) the movie received an "okay" response from audiences, and while not anything mind blowing Lara Croft: Tomb Raider does capture the essence of adventure and silliness that endear the games and character to audiences.

Simon West brings his visceral sense of style and intensity to the film that he brought to Con Air and that style is well complimented by the performance by Jolie as Croft who gives us a "devil may care" protagonist who lives for sheer thrills and danger. It's not the most deep of performances, but considering the source material Jolie manages to capture the character's core appeal to a "T" both in terms of personality and the action beats. While the opening "training scene" with Lara squaring off against a killer robot made by her home techie, Bryce, goes a bit further from reality than it should, the other major action sequences are well done with the siege of Lara's manor by Illuminati mercenaries done with some creative usage of bungee cables and household items and the two major tomb sequences in Cambodia and Siberia have strong production design and incorporate some strong "platforming" elements reminiscent of the games without feeling bogged down by them. Daniel Craig I also rather enjoyed as Lara's rival/love interest, Alex Wes, even if Craig adopting an American accent in place of his British one was a little eyebrow raising.

While the adventure elements work well with exotic locales and imposing tombs, other story beats don't feel as strong as they should. Iain Glen serves as our main villain Powell, and while he does okay in the role the villain really never rises above much more than an obstacle (even when it's revealed his connection to Lara's father) with him basically being the Illuminati's glorified errand boy who wants to sit in "the big chair". I feel like maybe if the characters of West and Powell were combined into a singular antagonist we'd probably have a much stronger villain. But the biggest element that doesn't work is Jolie's real life father, Jon Voight playing Lara's father Richard Croft. On paper this SHOULD work as a way of capturing that "father/daughter" dynamic the movie wants to evoke, but not only is Voight's performance as Richard rather underwhelming as he gives a very sleepy performance, but when Jolie and Voight do eventually appear together it plays very distant and awkward and not like a heartfelt family reunion. When you have your "big emotional moment" I shouldn't be noting that Voight had better chemistry with Nicolas Cage playing his son in National Treasure than he has with his real life daughter.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider given the time this was made was probably the most faithful adaptation of the franchise and character we could expect. With tight direction, a large budget, and an enjoyable performance by Jolie as Croft, the movie is nonsense, but it's entertaining nonsense.

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.