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| Review
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider |
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When I first saw the preview for Tomb
Raider, I must admit that I really had no interest in seeing it. I
probably would not have seen it, even if I were given free passes. I
would not have rented it. I would not have watched it if someone else
paid to rent it and asked me to watch it. I would not have watched it if
it were on television for free. And if I were strapped down and my
eyelids were being held open in front of the movie, I would have tried
to roll my eyeballs in the back of my head instead of watching it. I
have no interest in video games and I have yet to see a video game that
was turned into anything close to a decent movie.
Needless to say, when I did end up going out of my way and paying FULL
price to see this movie, I went in with an open mind...
Tomb Raider is basically about a "tomb raider" (Lara Croft)
who lives in a humongous mansion with one butler and one sidekick (with
really bad teeth). She discovers that there is a secret society trying
to take over the world by gaining control of time. To do this, the
members of the secret society have to travel to opposite sides of the
earth to put together the pieces of an ancient triangle at the exact
time that all of the planets are aligning. They try to do this with what
seems to be the help of Lara Croft (even though she is supposed to be
stopping them).
The premise was, well, interesting, but there was quite a bit wrong with
the movie. For an "action" character, Lara Croft did not seem
to be in any grave danger throughout the entire movie. She was in a few
tight situations, but I've seen movies with Superman having more trouble
than her. There was never any sense of urgency in the movie. I liked the
idea of Lara having a love interest in the movie. But why would she be
interested in such a weasel? And why did the butler have to interrupt
Lara Croft having a perfectly innocent shower that should have lasted at
least another two or three minutes?
On the flip side, Angelina Jolie was decent in her role as Lara Croft. I
have never been a big fan of hers and I could never figure out why
everyone finds her so attractive, but she was okay in this movie (what
she is doing with Billy Bob is beyond me - she's only 26 and he must be
pushing 70 - or at least he looks like he is). Some of the supporting
cast is decent (ie. the butler and the villain in the movie played by
Daniel Craig) but they are underused. The movie is not long, which I
really liked. The locations of the movie were breathtaking. The action
sequences are decent (but once again, there should have been more
danger).
There's not much more I can say about this movie. It wasn't great but
there has been worse. I guess for a video game movie, I can say it was
okay. I won't say much else than okay. I didn't walk into the movie
expecting to see the next Casablanca, but the movie really didn't blow
me away. All I can say is if you wait for the video, you won't be
disappointed. And if you can convince someone else to pay for the
rental, all the power to you. And if you need someone to hold open your
eyelids to make you watch this movie - well, I can't help you there.
 
- 5/10
Brendan Cullin -
Senior Editor
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