Plot: What’s it about?
If there was ever a movie more tailor-made for a person, it’s Tomb Raider and it’s made for Angelina Jolie. Based on the ever-popular video game, the busty vixen by the name of Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) makes being an archaeologist of sorts, actually interesting (not that being an archeologist isn’t interesting already). There was doubt as to who would play the title role, but it seemed that Jolie’s fame was rising just as the movie was being cast. Being an Academy Award-Winning actress didn’t hurt matters any. As many know, Angelina Jolie is the daughter of another Oscar-Winner, Jon Voight. Voight has a part in the movie as, strangely enough, Croft’s father. Don’t be fooled, though, as he has less that ten minutes of screen time. This is her movie! That being said, there’s only one other thing I can think to say that’s good about this movie. I’ll save that for later and hopefully try to end on a good note. The plot seems to be thrown together at the last minute and the performances are not that good. It seems that everyone involved knew they were in a "guaranteed" hit/event movie and it seemed to stay that way until the ending credits rolled. Also, movies based on video games don’t exactly have the best track record at the cineplex, remember ‘Street Fighter’, ‘Super Mario Brothers’ and ‘Double Dragon’? Didn’t think so…Still, Tomb Raider was a success at the box office as was ‘Mortal Kombat’ (the only other movie based on a video game that made a profit). If you can suspend your disbelief, I mean really suspend it, then give Tomb Raider a try. The plot may be brief, but they didn’t have a lot to work with!
As Lara Croft sits in her majestic palace battling robots that are trying to kill her (for fun, no less), the time is upon the world when the planets will align. Now I don’t know for a fact when this will happen in real life, or if it has ever happened (or ever will), but this is a movie, so we’ll proceed. Lara had lost her father some fifteen years earlier, when he simply disappeared. Lord Croft (Jon Voight) was doing research on the very same phenomenon. The "bad guys", known as the Illuminati aim to take over the Earth by conducting a ritual at the exact moment of a once-every-5,000-years planetary alignment. To accomplish this they must locate the two halves of an ancient triangular metal plate and join them together at just the right moment. Lara’s job, of course, is to prevent this all from happening by destroying both halves of the triangle — but logic might say that if she only destroyed one half of the triangle, it would have the same effect and have the added benefit of getting us out through the movie in half the time. Interesting…Heading this effort is the head ‘bad guy’ Powell (Iain Glen) and his assistant Alex West (Daniel Craig), an archaeologist-for-hire who apparently once had an affair with Lara and wants desperately to resume it. Is this really going to happen? Are the evil Illuminati going to take over the Earth? Or will one lone archeologist, with two pistols strapped to her naked thighs, have the gumption to foil their plan?
Tomb Raider will certainly not garner many awards, but with today’s Hollywood, who knows. It’s predictable and unimaginative. Now onto that "good part" that I promised earlier in the review. Ok, let’s face it…we all know Lara Croft because of her ample chest. Even in the video game, she looks like Dolly Parton in a tank top. Who better than Angelina Jolie to fill (no pun intended) her shoes? If it’s a quick peek that you’re looking for, you’ll get it. If you’re going to sit through the entire movie on the off chance that you’ll see her naked, don’t bother. Pick up a copy of ‘Gia’ instead. While I don’t doubt her talents as an actress, there are females who can carry an action movie and those who can’t. Granted this movie is not that great, but it did make plenty of money (and the ending just sets it up for Tomb Raider 2). So, will we see more of Lara Croft in the future? Count on it, will it be better than the original? I’d hate to see it if it’s worse…Strike one.
Video: How does it look?
As new a movie as this is, I was certainly under impressed with the way it looks on DVD. And I usually give a lot of movies the benefit of the doubt. Presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, the level of detail is remarkable. It’s one of the things that made watching Mrs. Jolie in action. However, the entire movie seemed to be oversaturated. I also said that about Star Trek: The Motion Picture and I did check my television settings, they’re fine. Perhaps it would benefit Paramount (or all studios, for that matter) to make more 2 disc sets. Put the movie and perhaps a commentary on the first disc and then place all the supplements on the second. I feel that there is so much material on the disc, it compromises the integrity of the picture (the physical picture, not the film in general). A tad bit of artifacting was also noticeable as was a minor bit of edge enhancement. For a brand new movie to DVD, this doesn’t look as good as it can; even though by most standards it looks very good. Strike two…
Audio: How does it sound?
I will say that the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is among the best that I’ve heard in quite some time. When the menus are loud enough to make me turn the volume down a notch or two, then I can say that the movie adds much more of this. Surrounds are used, and very well. Plenty of gunfire, and action is involved to give your speakers a workout. The front three channels do perform most of the work, however, but the richness and depth of the soundtrack is something that will actually want to make you finish the movie. Granted, to say that the audio is the high point of the movie is not saying much, but if this DVD has some redeeming qualities, this is one of them.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Labeled as s "Special Collector’s Edition", Tomb Raider doesn’t disappoint when it comes to supplements. A commentary by Director Simon West is up first and it’s not that bad. Contrary to what you might think, it’s not two hours of him saying "I’m sorry, I’m sorry", but he is rather proud of his work and I’m sure that Paramount is proud of him for giving them a hit movie. Being the solo commentator, there are some lulls in his talking, but on the whole it’s a good track. Crafting Lara Croft is a featurette that shows how Angelina Jolie got in shape, literally, for the role of Lara Croft. As Croft, she incorporates several styles of fighting and her commitment to the role is admirable, in the sense that she took classes for three months prior to when filming began. The stunts of Tomb Raider shows just that. Naturally, an Academy Award-Winning actress won’t do all the stunts and CGI can only take care of so much. While not the most interesting of featurettes, it delivers the goods and sheds a bit of light on all the stunt work that happens throughout the movie. Visual Effects of Tomb Raider is also to the point, in eight different sequences we see how the various types of digital effects made (or were supposed to make) the movie come to life. Finally, Are You Game takes a look at the Tomb Raider video game, the one that started it all. Should we be mad? Only kidding…Still, it is impressive that a video game can have such a far-reaching effect into our mainstream culture. Rounding out the supplements that non DVD-ROM people can access is a music video by U2 entitled "Elevation". I still hold U2 in high regard, even if they were part of this movie. An alternate title sequence is also shown, but I personally like the one that they used; evidently so did they, as that’s why they used it. Lastly, four deleted scenes are shown and it’s no wonder why they were deleted. As the movie seemed to drag on as it did, every deleted scene is a welcome sigh of relief. Now a bit of a low point here (just when you thought you couldn’t get lower, I know…), there are a number of DVD-ROM features. Now they aren’t the most impressive of features, but not everyone is equipped with a DVD-ROM enabled computer, perhaps Paramount is trying to push this technology? Still, links to the website, a Tomb Raider timeline, a Tomb Raider Chronicles game demo and an access to the online experience are included. While I found Tomb Raider to be predictable and boring, it does sound great and has a fair amount of supplements. If this is your thing, then you’re well-equipped.
