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Lara Croft - Tomb Raider Customer Reviews (43 - 45 of 54 Reviews)

Jolie is Wonderful; The Rest Fairly Average
2001 was an odd year for movies, bringing us a film that was animated so well it seemed real (FINAL FANTASY); and LARA CROFT, TOMB RAIDER, a film that was so perfectly cast that the lead seemed like the embodiment of a video game-character. Whoever was responsible for casting Angelina Jolie is a genus, and Jolie herself deserves an enormous amount of credit for this uncanny albeit very strange portrayal. And let's face it, Jolie is really the only reason to see this film. The plot is nothing special, dialogue fairly commonplace at best (and at worst, laughable--the scene between Lara and her father's ghost made my entire family wince with the similarity to THE LION KING), the special-effects and set design acceptably workmanlike and the other actors similarly undistinguished. But Jolie makes that all moot--and not just because she's gorgeous. She brings Lara Croft to life without a single misstep; so much so that the aspects of Croft created specifically for the movie seem as though they've always been there through all the video games. This is a movie worth a look for its entertainment value, expect nothing else; but a great popcorn movie it is--not quite Indiana Jones, but not far from it.

As far as the extras on the DVD go, they seem fairly standard. I was amused by how pretentious many of those interviewed were, especially the director. They seemed under the mistaken impression that what they were doing was truly important cinema; and spoke of such things as "the spiritual heart of the film". Frankly, I'd give this all a miss--if you saw the film, you saw the best part of the disc. The only extra of interest to me was the section on Jolie's training for the role; this is probably because I thought she was the only exceptional thing about the film. Finally, I couldn't play the DVD-ROM features on my Mac G4; it requires Windows.

Not quite what I'd hoped for.
When I first heard about this film, I was both excited and apprehensive. While I was certain that Angelina Jolie was a great choice for protraying famed videogame character Lara Croft, I was worried that the game's look and feel would not be translated correctly onscreen.

Sadly after watching the movie I was proved right on both accounts. Angelina Jolie nails the part of Lara Croft perfectly, even down to her faux British accent, and is perfectly fit and just enough of a badass to make her believable.

That unfortunately is where the fun of this movie ends. Sure, there are the requisite beautiful locations, such as fabled Angkor Wat and Iceland, but what happens between beautifully-shot scenery is a bit of a mish-mash.

The plot is largely ignored for the sake of some good action sequences, most notably the bungee attack. There's something about an all-powerful triangle (triangle?!) that the secret society Illuminati wants, and Lara has to find it. Or what? Oh yeah, the bad guys will get it.

The DVD is perhaps worth a rental; it 's chock-full of extras, including deleted scenes, a U2 video, Alternate main title sequence, and various featurettes on special effects, stuntwork, and Angelina's intense physical training for the film. There's also an easter egg and some ok DVD-ROM material.

Unfortunately while Tomb Raider looks great and has a pretty good soundtrack and some nice action sequences, the whole film feels rushed and just simply pasted together. Let's hope that if there is to be a sequel that more time will be spent on storytelling and less on blowing stuff up.

MASTERING HER CROFT
Hey, what the heck! This is a movie adaptation of a video game, for pete's sake. What do you expect? This movie is flashy, fun, wildly ridiculous, campy, and adventurous. Angelina Jolie pouts and moves appropriately; the action sequences are well choreographed, and the bad guys lose. What more could one want in this type of movie. Iain Glen is sufficiently villainous; Daniel Craig is a hunky, if traitorous, former associate; Chris Barrie is delightful as Lara's manservant, Hillary; and Noah Taylor as nerdy Bryce couldn't be better. Grame Revill's score is nice, and Simon West's direction, while not all that original, moves the film along.
One shouldn't look for Oscar caliber material all the time; just sit back and watch instead of play the video game movie!

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