Overblown and improbable in its juggling so many themes and happenings that converge somewhere along the way, this film's story is convoluted, and yet, so much about it is so simple, and that stresses the silliness and contrivances, until the plot becomes near-senseless, with a lack of focus that is exacerbated by a lack of coherency. Financially, I'd say it paid off, but critically, on the other hand, definitely not so much, and really, while I think that the film is reasonably entertaining, I can see where some people are coming from.Īs an early 2000s action-adventure popcorn piece, this film is not much of anything new, following the same style and lame score, and lazily manufacturing a very typical plot formula that, no matter how overdone, is still a little hard to figure out. Come to think of it, Jolie didn't really start getting dramatic until well after this film, so maybe her being disowned by the respectable Voight name was daddy's idea, but now that Voight can't afford to only do the heavy stuff, he and Jolie are going to have to take the commercial train together. whose fanbase is largely focused on hard-hitting dramas like "Midnight Cowboy", or "Deliverance", or "Coming Home", or a bunch of other stuff that only Jon Voight has been in. Jolie finally had to face up to being Jon Voight's daughter, so, naturally, this is big-time fan service to fans of the Voight family. Shoot, on top of that, it took Indy until his third movie to hang out with an old James Bond, and on her first movie, Croft hangs out with Daniel Craig at one point, well before he was James Bond, which isn't to say that this film didn't commit some form of fan service at the time of its release. even if she is a hot British chick with a great deal of wealth, and advanced, video game-grade combat skills. that is filled with ancient artifacts of great power which is pursued by the Illuminati.Yeah, well, other than that, Lara Croft is not as cool as Indiana Jones. Why, I just can't believe that Angelina Jolie could possibly condone grave robbing! Seriously though, Indiana Jones raided the lost ark, and all this chick is raiding is some old tomb. Rating: PG-13 (Some Sensuality|Action/Violence)ĭolby Stereo, Surround, DTS, SDDS, Dolby Digital It is one woman's fearless quest criss-crossing the globe, in an amazing attempt to save the world. Beautiful and brainy, Lara (Angelina Jolie) is the heroine of Eidos Interactive's phenomenally successful "Tomb Raider" game series. And, like the movie, it's also pretty forgettable, more memorable for Angelina Jolie on the cover than the music itself.This live action feature is inspired by the most successful interactive video-game character in history - Lara Croft. So, that means this record is as sleek, glossy, and formulaic as the film itself, and like the movie, it's reasonably enjoyable as it plays (providing you're in the mood for it), but it's also curiously dated with its heavy electronic bent and devotion to the video game, feeling as if it really should have come out in 1997/1998 instead of the summer of 2001. (You may be saying to yourself, "well this is assuming that Lara Croft is real," when the real leap of judgment here is that Lara has a social life - nowhere in the movie is it apparent that she ever leaves her damn mansion, or has a real relationship with anyone outside of the big test robot and its operator). Nevertheless, this large dose of heavy beats fits the film well, since Lara Croft seems to be the kind of stylish, classy English gal that would have grooved to Leftfield's "Open Up" while in college, and still will hit the clubs to dance to BT, Moby, the Chemicals, Basement Jaxx, Fatboy Slim, and Groove Armada, while putting on U2 (who graciously donates the "Tomb Raider Mix" of "Elevation," which now makes it sound like a Pop outtake), Missy Elliott (again, a new mix of "Get Ur Freak On," this time with Nelly Furtado on vocals), and, when she's frisky, Outkast while at home. It's entirely appropriate for a film based on a video game to be heavy on electronica dance - it's a cliché, even, since don't those bleeps and bloops sound just like something you hear on a video game? Well, that used to be the case with a Commodore 64 or a Vic 20, but on any modern game, which Tomb Raider surely, the electronic music is a little more orchestrated.
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