Lara Croft Tomb Raider

Lara Croft Tomb Raider is another one of those films whose characters are based on a computer game. Angelina Jolie plays Lara Croft, the heroine of the movie, a tough and intelligent young lady with a talent for staying alive under the most unlikely circumstances. As the film opens, Ms Croft is raiding a tomb of some kind, and fighting a huge vicious robot. This is all an elaborate training exercise devised by her sidekick and technical guru Bryce, and is in fact happening at her home. Lara is the wealthy daughter of the late Lord Croft, and she lives in a mansion surrounded by state of the art techno gadgetry and artefacts that she has raided from tombs in the past.

The story-line of this film is quite difficult to understand but goes something like this: There is apparently an astronomical event every 5000 years in which all the planets are aligned, and at this time, if you have the right key, and go to the right tombs, you can find the two pieces of an ancient triangle which, when joined back together, will open a doorway into time and allow you to have the power of God. Now, of course, there are some bad guys who want this power, some kind of a cult called the Illuminati. One of the members is called Manfred Powell, an old adversary of Lara's father. When one night she discovers an old clock which contains a strange artefact, she is put in touch with Powell who quickly realises that this is the key he's been looking for. He must journey first to Cambodia and then to Siberia to find the pieces of the triangle. Lara follows and they actually work together up to a point because Lara must destroy the pieces before the power of God is unleashed on the world.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider is fun to watch. As a game movie, I didn't expect much of it, and I didn't get much from it, so I got what I expected and wasn't disappointed. It is funny in places but rather forgettable. The action sequences are fast paced — too fast paced for me; I couldn't follow what was happening a lot of the time. Not surprisingly, the main attraction is the Lara Croft character who, considering she's only really a sprite in a computer game, is very well played by Jolie and, of course, very pleasant to look at.