It’s hard to believe that Lara Croft: Tomb Raider turns 20 this year, as the stars of the movie are still spearheading their own billion-dollar franchises. But at the same time, it’s very much easy to believe, as the effects were clearly made in CGI’s infancy and the plot is expectedly underdeveloped for a video game movie.
The film doesn’t have the best reputation, but there are moments throughout that are spectacular. Between the brilliant stunt work, being faithful to the video game, and the perfect casting, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is arguably quite underrated.
It’s One Of Daniel Craig’s Most Entertaining Early Roles
Before Casino Royale and even before Layer Cake, Daniel Craig’s biggest breakthrough role was as Alex West, the antihero and love interest of Lara Croft. Craig played the opportunistic architect brilliantly, and the character was perfectly heroic without taking the spotlight away from the titular character.
There’s even a twinkle of his depiction of 007 in his role of West, as he plays the character in an alluring and charming kind of way. Based on his performance in the movie, it’s no surprise that Craig was cast as James Bond.
The Practical Sets Are Cinematic
Unlike so many movies at the time of its release, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is amazingly dedicated to its practical set design, whether it’s Croft Manor or the many tombs that Lara raids. And while there is CGI in the movie, such as Bryce’s robot and the stone monsters, it’s so minimal it’s hardly noticeable outside of those examples.
Strangely enough, though practical sets on this kind of scale are extremely rare these days, the last movie to do it was the new Mortal Kombat movie, which also just happens to be a video game adaptation. Both movies received a negative reception, but they still have a following that love them, and that’s partly thanks to the movies’ dedication to rebuilding the sets found in the video games.
All The Different Countries Lara Visits Are Spectacular
Just like Indiana Jones, one of the iconic characters that the property is clearly inspired by, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a giant globetrotting affair.
The two biggest locations outside of the UK are Cambodia and Venice, and though it isn’t generally considered the most beautiful looking film of all time, the cinematic vistas of these locations are spectacular. It also adds a huge sense of adventure, which is why the Angelina Jolie movie will always be better than the 2018 reboot.
The Time Warping Final Action Sequence
The plot is a little convoluted, as it sees Lara and Manfred race against each other to find the two halves of the Triangle, which gives its possessor the power to control time. But when the two halves of the Triangle are finally connected, it turns the movie into a bizarre time-twisting visual spectacle.
From racing up two sides of a pyramid to walking at the same pace of a knife being thrown, the sequence might be confusing, but viewers’ eyes are glued to the screen the whole time. Though the movie doesn’t come close to the legacy of visually stunning but confusing movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, the final act is unexpectedly surreal, and it’s a pleasant surprise.
One Of The Few Interesting Movies About The Illuminati
The mention of the very word “Illuminati” illicits excitement, as the mystery surrounding the word pulls people in immediately. And though it’s one of the most extreme narratives that includes the fictional secret society, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider ingeniously uses the fictitious group.
It’s always entertaining to see the new world order incorporated into TV shows and movies. And as the ideology of the Illuminati is that it wants to control the world, how could they do that better than with an artifact that controls time? The Triangle even has the All-Seeing Eye on it.
The Storyline Between Lara & Her Father Carries Real Emotional Weight
Though the movie is generally considered one of the worst video game movies of the 2000s due to how senseless the plot is, the movie still has some emotional impact on a big level. In the movie, Lara’s father has already been dead for years, but he features prominently in several flashbacks with his daughter.
The scene hit hard, and it’s all down to the acting. What makes the scene so great is that Richard Croft is played by Jon Voight, who is Angelina Jolie’s real-life father. So when the two of them share screen time as a father and daughter, it genuinely feels real.
The Set Pieces Are Huge
Not only are the practical sets so brilliant, but the set pieces found within them are on an epic scale too. It’s hard to even imagine how much of the budget it took to build the giant globe with its revolving branches, but regardless, it looks incredible.
There are Manfred’s henchmen hanging off every branch, with several of them getting crushed between the branches. And when Lara is trying to retrieve the first half of the Triangle in the first tomb in Cambodia, she is literally surfing on a giant pillar, which is another great example of a giant practical design that isn’t CGI.
It’s Faithful Enough To The First Game
The original still remains the best Tomb Raider game, and part of that is because of the story, which was surprisingly well developed for a PlayStation game at the time. Though it isn’t completely faithful, as the first game does include a giant T-Rex that chases Lara around the inside of a tomb, the movie does a great job at adapting the story in a realistic manner.
1996’s Tomb Raider is all about racing against the Illuminati to find the two halves of the Triangle, just like the movie. But Lara Croft: Tomb Raider understandably added human villains, as the biggest enemies Lara has in the game are all of the bats. But outside of that, the movie is very faithful to the source material.
Angelina Jolie Is Perfectly Cast
At the time, actors such as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Lopez were being looked at for the role, but thankfully, Angelina Jolie was eventually cast as Lara Croft, and she was perfect. Not only did she look exactly like the character, but she completely brought Lara to life as well.
As the movie doesn’t have a great reputation for many different reasons, whether it’s the lame action or nonsensical plot, Angelina Jolie completely carries the movie on her shoulders. The actor is the only part of the movie that was consistently praised by critics. And though a sequel to the 2018 reboot starring Alicia Vikander is one of the many upcoming video game movie releases, Jolie will always be Tomb Raider in many people’s eyes.
Tomb Raider Is A Badass In The Movie
The 2018 remake might have grounded the character in a more realistic environment and made Lara more of an unobjectified heroine, but the 2001 version of the character isn’t vulnerable in any way.
Lara was a badass in the game, but not to the extent that she is in the movie, and that may have something to do with Jolie’s portrayal of her. Not only that, but she can hold her own in hand-to-hand combat, she’s smarter than everyone else in the room, and she isn’t remotely distracted by men, not even James Bond.