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Lara Croft - Tomb Raider Customer Reviews (31 - 33 of 54 Reviews)

Pleasing Summer Romp
'Tomb Raider' is a movie released during the summer, and fits perfectly into that niche of big budget, star-powered, special effects extravangas that we have come to expect during the hot months of the year.

The plot is mainly concerned with an evil group of people, known as the Illuminati, who are determined to gain ultimate power by using the once-every-five-thousand-years "straight alignment" of the planets as a trigger for a solar eclipse, which, along with some valuable stone pieces, and a dial taken from a smashed clock, will grant them their desired power. All sounds a little much? Well, it is. But, trust me, the story moves along well, you have no problem understanding what's going on, and the plot points allow for some really good actions scenes.

As Lara Croft, the protagonist of the piece, Angelina Jolie excels at providing intelligence, cunning, acrobatics, and mucho sex appeal. The Croft persona is quite adept at fighting, and is always vigilante against the evil guys who are hell-bent on taking over the world. Jolie takes the character seriously, although one does maybe sense a slight tongue planted in the cheek at times. The supporting characters, heroes and villians both, do a good job, and the special effects are top-notch. Some of the sets built for the big actions scenes were really impressive. There is a sub-plot, centered around Lara's missing father, which, though it gives a chance for Jolie to act alongside her real-life father (Jon Voight), doesn't seem to make any sense as part of the movie - until the end.

'Tomb Raider' blends a bit of 'Indiana Jones' and 'The Mummy' in order to come up with some of its recipe. The imitation is flattering, though not quite up to the same level. The exotic locales used for the film added nicely to its overall look, though I felt a sense of slightly lagging direction. Every now and then the movie seemed as though it were in need of moving a bit faster. But that is only a small complaint. All in all, it was a very satisfactory film.

Solid summer movie
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opened to rather unfair mixed reviews from the movie criticism establishment. In fact, this is a quintessential summer movie action film, introducing an entirely fun action heroine to the big screen. Angelina Jolie brings a sense of humor to her portrayal of Lara Croft, treading on Indiana Jones territory but never quite crossing into homage. The plot has the complexity and faux mythology of a 60s sword and sorcery film, but the action pacing and special effects are pure 2001. Lara Croft must deal with the challenge of a device that, if properly aligned, will permit its user to control time. Many guns are fired, lots of things blow up real good, dastardly deeds are done and thwarted. This is the type of movie to which one takes a big bowl of popcorn and a willing suspension of disbelief. This is not high art, this is summer fun. As far as I'm concerned, the only shame is that they didn't go ahead and film two sequels while they were at it. Angelina Jolie can carry an action film, and she is ably supported by a fun cast. This is a movie worth seeing, for many of the same reasons that the Brendan Fraser mummy movies work. It's perfectly understandable that it's not everyone's cup of tea--it's a big budget escapist Hollywood fantasy. But gee, I enjoyed the escape, and long for a few more movies that will take me on a journey so effortlessly.

Hard to Identify...
Lara Croft--Tomb Raider was one of the most anticipated films of the year. The very idea of taking a video-game and crafting it into a movie took us all by surprise, and once it was announced that Angelina Jolie was casted as the leading lady, that was it: we had to see it. The film, of course, has your stereotypical plot of an action hero (this time female) going on a quest to save civilization. In this case, Croft must stop villains from getting the pieces of a triangle which once led to the destruction of a society and could be used to control the earth and lead to its destruction, if put in the wrong hands. Naturally, lots of stunts, fight-scenes, and narrow escapes ensue before Lara Croft ultimately prevails. There is also a link to Lara's own past, in that she is taking on a mission which her father was unable to fulfill. As his successor, she is determined more than ever to rescue civilization.

I found this movie hard to interpret in the sense that it was very unemotional. I associated Jolie with such roles as 'Lisa' from 'Girl, Interrupted' and did not know what to make of her as a cool and collected action queen. Of course, she was fun to watch, but she did not seem to have a lot of lines, and the lines she did have, were often giving instructions or in the middle of fight-scenes. The lack of feeling was disconcerting for me. I understand that it was important to Jolie not to have a female action hero wimpering and being carried off by a man, but surely that is only one emotion that a woman will feel. A lack of humor was keenly felt in this movie. Her English side-kicks only produced luke-warm chuckles, but perhaps this would have been different if the villain had had a couple of dupes for side-kicks.

The positives to this movie are self-explanatory. We have a female action-hero who is not afraid to look feminine and have some sex appeal (without falling into the arms of every guy or any guy she lays eyes on.) The violence was not overly graphic and there was hardly any sexuality. I liked the idea of the movie's traveling to Angkor Wat to find the location of the sacred triangle, as this Cambodian location is so beautiful, yet so ignored by Hollywood. And of course, Angelina Jolie is beautiful and absolutely stunning to watch in action. You can rent this movie, enjoy it, but you won't find yourself captivated by it.

Over all, a good, even if a little enigmatic, performance by Jolie, some nice scenery, a typical plot, but lacking in emotion or hilarity.

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