Movie Info
Movie Name: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Studio: Mutual Film Company
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): June 15, 2001
MPAA Rating: PG-13
The only thing that makes sense in this whole fight scene…sort of…
A solar eclipse is coming, and the Illuminati are trying to collect the pieces of a triangle of power that can open the portal to time. Unfortunately, Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) is also after the triangle like her Richard Croft (Jon Voight). Lara Croft finds herself going head-to-head with her rival Alex West (Daniel Craig). Time is running out to get the pieces, and opening the portal to time, could allow Lara to claim the ultimate prize.
Directed by Simon West, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider adapts the hit series of video games which started with the 1996. The movie was panned by critics but made a killing at the box office. Angelina Jolie was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Actress (losing to Mariah Carey for Glitter).
I’m West…Alex West…
When Tomb Raider was released in 1996, Lara Croft became an instant hit. Despite being fictional, she was one of those game characters treated like a “real” person. With this type of popularity, it was pretty obvious that the game was movie material.
The problem with Tomb Raider is that with an electric character and a bigger than life game involving dinosaurs and other crazy events, the film is pretty tame. The movie’s quest for this time device was very dull and just seems to drag on, one even to another…See Lara swing on a big obelisk! See Lara ride a dog sled! The moments like battling the clay statues aren’t big enough…I wanted the tyrannosaurus from the first game!
Cool! …but you’re no T-Rex…
The acting is also quite awful all around. Angelina does fit the part, but comes off as flat. Her character is always doing unnecessary flips straight from the video game and making things way more difficult than it has to be…Lara apparently wants to be cool. Daniel Craig (in his pre-Bond days) also is a very flat romantic lead. Jon Voight was getting along with Angelina Jolie at the time of the film, but it would have been better if he also missed this film.
The movie frankly is put together horribly. Scenes are edited awful. A great example would be the bungee cord scene where it is unclear what exactly is going on for most of the fight. The bungee cord fight is a great example of what is wrong with the film in general, and why as a whole package, the film doesn’t work.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is mess. I wish that the movie had been a fun adventure in the league of Indiana Jones or James Bond (it was shot at Pinewood Studios), but instead you get a bland, flat film that misses a mark with an interesting character. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is followed by Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in 2003.
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