Tomb Raider

Enter Lara Croft!

Why would someone (of sound mind) want to talk about videogame live action movies? And why would someone want to talk about a movie that was made 16 years ago and didn't live up to the expectations? The answer is pretty simple, I frigging loved the Tomb Raider games! And now that they're back on Steam and there's a remake movie coming next year, let's talk about the girl that had nerds drooling (and still has them) for years!

The Tomb Raider saga started in 1996. The first six games were developed by a British company known as Core Design (owned by Eidos Interactive). Each game followed the adventures of a sexy rich girl who had a thing for exploration and tomb raiding. Her name was Lara Croft, the rest, is history.   

By the year 2000, the film industry already knew what it was like to make a unsuccessful video game film. Examples dated back to the early 90's with Super Mario Bros.(1993, and I was there), Double Dragon (1994, I was there too) and Street Fighter (1994, unfortunately I was there too).  All of these films were based upon video games that were massive then, and are fucking big franchises today but sadly, the film conversions sucked. However, every rule has its exception, and luckily the Mortal Kombat movie (1995) brought hope not only to film makers but also to the fans, that for the first time saw a respectful adaptation based upon a story that was already there in the games. 

The original Lara Croft (1996-2003)

The New Lara Croft (2013-Now)

By the time Tomb Raider had its own live action film, the fifth game, Tomb Raider Chronicles (2000) would be the last game released until 2003 because the popularity of the game was decreasing significantly, being Tomb Raider VI: Angel of Darkness, the final game made by Core/Eidos. The game did so bad, that a planned trilogy was cancelled. 

Movie wise, Tomb Raider is a harmless diversion that I'm sure it pleased its core audience back then in 2001. I saw it in the theater and I loved the performance of Angelina Jolie, who brought the computer game heroine to life. There are  2001 interviews out there,  where Jolie said that she really "became Lara Croft".

With her mock British accent, Jolie is a lot of fun as the adventurer-archaeologist who is equal parts Bruce Wayne and Indiana Jones, but with a much better body.

Welcome to my world.

Wanna play hide and seek?

Taking its cue from the video game, the film's screenplay is more of a puzzle than a plot. The script is a patchwork of ideas that plays like a Greatest Hits collection of other films. It deals with end of the world stuff, but it never feels apocalyptic. It's controlled chaos, utterly lacking in surprise. The script jumps from one expected moment to the next, never apologizing for its lack of originality.

At least Jolie understands the limitations of the script. There's enough conviction in her performance to make you want to believe in Lara Croft, the spunky heiress is who is equally at home in her spacious mansion or within the catacombs of a lost tomb. She's guided by the spirit (both literally and figuratively) of her late adventurer father, Lord Croft (Jon Voight), and assisted by an archaeologist Alex West (Daniel Craig, before he had license to kill) and cyber-geek creator Bryce (Noah Taylor). The antagonist is an experienced vicious archeologist known as Manfred Powell (Ian Glen) and believe you me, his villain passes the test of time with a swift Pass B.

There's always a bad guy.

And this one is baaaad.

The film opens like "Raiders of the Lost Ark," with Lara Croft deep inside one of those musty, dusty tombs. Instead of outrunning a giant boulder, Croft squares off against a mechanical monster, a robotic menace that seems to come out of nowhere. It doesn't. We learn that it's a creation of Bryce, used to keep Croft on her toes.

Angelina Jolie made the perfect Lara Croft; her facial expressions and sly smirks added a personality to the flick that I can only imagine the video game is missing. She seemed smart, brave, and composed as well as full of emotion. Okay, maybe the parts with her father (real-life papa Jon Voight) were a little over the top, but since the whole movie is just eye-candy anyway they seemed to fit.

Admit it, Lara Croft's tits are the tits!

Pay to play.

The fight scenes among ruins got me. How can you not love Lara Croft jumping onto a swinging obelisk to smash a glass eye that holds the key to time, or sledding thru an ice cave being pulled by dogs? Or the scene where the villains jump through her castle windows as she rappels around the walls, smashing chandeliers and pistol-whipping bad guys? What's a girl to do but hop on her motorbike, take a guy out sideways, and race off at 100 miles an hour? Excellent.

Angelina Jolie did her own Bungee-Ballet, and according to an interview with her on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , injured her ankle on the first take when landing on top of a chandelier went bad, so that part of the scene had to be done over again after she recovered. In addition, the film does pay homage to the original games by adding a few Easter eggs here and there. For instance, When Lara starts smashing the clock with a hammer, Hillary (the butler) uses a silver tray to protect his face. This is a reference to the games, in which, while exploring Croft Manor, the player can shoot at the butler, who then also uses the tray he's carrying around to protect himself. Another Easter egg takes place towards the end of the film when Lara finds a bunch of wolves, she says "A-ha". This was a link to the original games where Lara would use this phrase whenever she picked up an item. Furthermore, in the video game, Lara Croft is a 36DD. Angelina Jolie is naturally a 36C, and was padded to a 36D for the movie, as it was felt that padding to the original character size would be too unrealistic.(_°_)(_°_) Moreover, Lara (Angelina Jolie) was going to be naked in the shower scene, similar to the epilogue of Tomb Raider II (1997), but the idea was dropped, in order to avoid an R-rating. So the film could secure a PG-13 rating instead, only her sideboobs are seen. 

Are you looking for this?

Girls & Guns, the perfect combination?

Another Easter egg is Lara's gadgets in the film, which are specific nods at certain gameplay features of the Tomb Raider games. Among them, the reloader belt or back pack (allowing her to reload her guns very quickly, and without fidgeting about with clips or bullets) and the back pack itself (which almost mysteriously "swallows" any item moved close to its bottom or side by Lara, like the first half of the Triangle).

And last but not least, here's a list of all the Hollywood stars that auditioned for the role of Lara Croft: Elizabeth Hurley, Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Christina Applegate, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Eggert, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Anna Nicole Smith.

Overall, and specially after 16 years of its release, Tomb Raider is still an action packed entertaining film with a light heart and an even lighter plot that do not dissapoint. 

Here's the movie trailer:

And as bonus, the new trailer for the remake film coming next year: