Movie Reviews

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

21 Jun 2001

Score one for real actors. Despite fears within the film industry that flesh-and-blood people are slowly being replaced by CGI characters, cartoon heroes and Rob Schneider, the film version of the video game "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" stars a real person: Angelina Jolie. No small achievement; Lara Croft is a scantily-clad, computer-generated babe. In most cases, healthy, real people look nothing like that.

Lara is one of those ludicrous Hollywood heroes (see most of Nicole Kidman's American roles), whose academic brilliance belies her youth, while she still has time to look like a movie star. Lara mixes Olympic-level fitness with her position as a wealthy English archaeologist. So what if the game has 3D graphics? This woman is as 2D as they come!

As she is basically a male fantasy figure, we shouldn't pretend that this is the sort of strong female role model that the movies need. At the same time, I don't always understand why women are supposed to be offended by such an idealised figure, while men feel rather happy to be of the same gender as James Bond and Conan the Barbarian. One of the genders is being immature about this, and I'm not certain which one.

At least Jolie doesn't mind. Remember, she's not some common bimbo. She's an Oscar-winning actress, though the closest she comes to "acting" in this film is affecting an English accent.

As for the film itself... well, what do you expect? Director Simon West presents us with elaborate SFX, great art director, and a plot that reminds one of the less wonderful moments of Tom Baker's "Doctor Who" era. Remember when the Doctor would save the universe using complex technical jargon? In "Tomb Raider", the Earth is threatened by a confusing storyline, in which a dastardly fiend (Iain Glen) wants to control time. Wow! Maybe this IS "Doctor Who".

Or maybe not. Despite a mostly capable cast (including Noah Taylor and Jolie's father, John Voight), the characters are as bland and write-by-numbers as the storyline. Anyone would think that the script (by Patrick Massett and John Zinman) wasn't even the film's top priority. Oh, but how could we be so cynical?