While we get Lara doing familiar moves such as shooting with two guns and backflips, the whole scene itself feels more like a noisy filler than a thrilling set piece. Instead of opening the film with Lara going on an adventure and raiding a tomb (a waste of opportunity if you asked me), it was actually a training exercise where she needs to take down a giant robot. The plot - credited to Patrick Massett and John Zinman - falls flat from the get-go, where we see Lara Croft (Jolie) all geared up with two 9mm handguns (the stainless-steel Heckler & Koch USP Match) holstered around her thighs and dressed in a signature short shorts. The film itself, however, is a vastly inferior version of Indiana Jones-style action adventure minus the palpable thrills and engaging storyline. Fortunately, the studio finally took the risk of casting her in the title role and the rest, as they say, is history. And despite she’s already an Oscar winner for her supporting performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999), she was hardly a box-office draw up until then. Jolie wasn’t exactly favoured by the studio at the time due to her notorious offscreen reputation with her then-husband, Billy Bob Thornton. While her sexy screen presence has since become Jolie’s signature role in her career, it’s hard to believe that the studio (Paramount Pictures) was rumoured to consider other actresses from Ashley Judd to Catherine Zeta-Jones and yes, even Jennifer Lopez. And yet, she manages to defy the odds and certainly look the part in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Casting an American actress instead of opting for a Brit, given the character’s nationality was already a risky move. A huge disappointment, to be exact.īut the only positive thing that I have to say about this film is Angelina Jolie, who excels in her title role of Lara Croft. After all the big hype and such, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider turned out to be surprisingly a disappointment. Throughout the 100-minute duration of the film, I couldn’t believe what I saw on the big screen. But it was Con Air that had me convinced he’s the right man for the job to handle a high-profile action movie blockbuster.Īnd then came the time when I finally got to watch the film in the cinema. The latter, of course, was well known for his directorial debut in Con Air (1997) and to a certain extent, The General’s Daughter (1999). I remember when I originally had high hope for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider mainly because of the three factors: the mass popularity of the video game itself, Angelina Jolie and Simon West. Not bad for such a film that managed to make quite a profit, even though it got ripped to shreds by most critics. And by the end of its theatrical run, it raked in a worldwide total of over US$274 million against a US$115 million budget. It made history at the opening weekend for a video game movie led by a female star with an impressive US$47.7 million during the first 3-day weekend. The Angelina Jolie-starred Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was fairly a big hit at the time of its release back in 2001.
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