Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Originally Written

Saturday, December 2, 2006

Lara Croft has to be somewhere in the Top 10 greatest video game characters of all-time. Really what's not to like about Tomb Raider? Its part Indiana Jones and part The Mummy wrapped up in a lot hotter package, which of course was the main reason for the overnight success of the British video game vixen. Whether or not you’re a fan of the game, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is one of the most entertaining video game to film adaptations I have seen, but then again is that really saying much?

Angelina Jolie plays the role of the lovely Lady Lara Croft. Thrown into the middle of an exhilarating mystery on the anniversary of her father's disappearance, which also happens to coincide with a planetary eclipse that only occurs once every five thousand years. Lara begins to discover clues her father had left behind with the intention that she may be the one to save the world from certain destruction.

Her father left behind a mystical clock which counts down the time to the only opportunity within the next five thousand years in which a person is able to retrieve two pieces of a broken magical triangle. The triangle has the ability to give those who control it the power to manipulate time, and therefore become all powerful. Lara discovers she's not the only one on the hunt for this powerful object, a secret group known as the Illuminati plan to obtain the triangle and become the masters of time, and Lara must destroy it before it's too late.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider isn't a great film, but it also isn't as horrible as the critics make it out to be. Sure the story isn't groundbreaking, the acting is average, and at times even the special effects and fight scenes aren't as polished as they could be, but in the end it's a fun film. And it succeeds in bringing some consistent action, breathtaking locations and of course Angelina Jolie in some nice Tomb Raider outfits! Angelina Jolie plays Lara Croft well, but there is one other person I always thought would have been excellent for the role and that was Zuleikha Robinson. She's a little known actress who had a fairly large role in the short lived television series The Lone Gunmen and also appeared in Hidalgo. Personally I think she would have been the better choice since she's actually English, and she's got the Lara Croft look, it definitely would have been interesting to see her playing the role instead.

A few familiar faces make an appearance in the film such as the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, with a horrible American accent, which is quite comical at times. Also in the film is Angelina's own father, John Voight, playing the role of Lara's father, which must be before the fallout between them when Angelina refused to ever speak to him again... kind of ironic? In the end, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a nice watch every once in a while if you're looking for an entertaining adventure, personally I enjoy the sequel a little more but this is still a film that fans of the Tomb Raider franchise will enjoy.

7/10