Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

View Date: June 16th, 2001

Cast :

Written by: Randall Wallace

Directed by: Simon West 

Being a child of the 80s, I grew up on the outer cusp of the current video game craze.  During my formative years, the popular games were Pac Man, Space Invaders, Asteroids etc, and I did catch the early Nintendo/Super Nintendo fever becoming addicted to Tetris.  But at that point, maturation set in, and I’ve missed out (or maybe not) on the current popularity of Playstation, Dreamcast and such that present games so life like and realistic, that it’s almost like controlling real life figures and characters. (similar to what movie directors do, more on that in a bit) One of the favorite games amongst this group is Tomb Raider, featuring cyber hottie Lara Croft who I guess, raid tombs of artifacts avoids bad guys and monsters.  Croft has been the fantasy girl of many a young boy and cyber geek since her inception, so it was inevitable that Hollywood would capitalize on that fact and bring her to the big screen.  It is unfortunate however that this movie had to be the vehicle of choice with which to do it.  While Angelina Jolie’s casting probably satiated those who’d been dreaming of her real life incarnation, the movie itself is nothing more than a glorified video game, lacking any intelligence or depth of script or character development.  The game itself makes more sense than the plot of this movie does, and the action sequences, while having the feel of a game complete with wild effects and background music, do not translate well, and do little to clarify an already muddled cinematic mess.

Croft’s background story is never completely explained, I guess because director Simon West is counting on his fans being fans of the game and already knowing that fact.  She apparently is of great wealth, and is the daughter of a famous explorer, archaeologist or adventurist who died mysteriously.  Since his death, she has secretly sought to find out the answers to his death while tempting it herself, becoming a daring retriever of ancient artifacts.  Through one of the many unexplained circumstances in the film, Croft stumbles across a hidden room which contains mysterious clock which has began to tick backwards as she finds it, which is also, coincidentally enough, during a rare occasion when the planets are about to come into alignment.  This is a very important artifact, one which is treasured by members of a group called Illuminati, whose purpose is yet another of the movies unexplained details.  The possessor of this clock will be able to find two pieces of a triangle which when assembled, allow time to be controlled.  One of the group’s members becomes Croft’s main nemesis/pursuer/partner in the quest.  The remainder of the movie plays out like sequences of a game, with action sequences, framed by transitional phases and even trying to introduce bits and pieces of the characters pasts.  Croft’s relationship with another raider, the mystery of her father’s death, and supporting stories with a butler and a computer whiz, are amongst the many underdeveloped plot lines in this mess of a screenplay.  Granted, this is an action movie, so the plot becomes secondary.  West’s previous effort, Con-Air, followed a similar ideal of sacrificing explosions and gunfire for sensibility.  I understand that it’s a summer movie, and supposed to be fun and not require any thought, but even the good films of this genre, notably Raiders of The Lost Ark which this movie bears more than a passing sacrilegious homage to, managed to mix a decent story line and some clever dialogue in amidst the chases and gunplay. 

Of course the main draw of the film is Jolie, and on a side note, her first onscreen appearance with father Jon Voight.  Her sensuality and beauty are not lost upon the audience, as West emphasizes it by not only showing her in nothing, or next to nothing, but also showcasing her athleticism, since she trained in martial arts and aerobics classes to prepare for the film.  She fits the role, and does the best, but there’s only so much you can do with something that lacks any cohesiveness or spirit.  Personally, I would rather watch someone play Tomb Raider then have to watch this film again.