Action Hero MoviesThis movie kicks off with a respectable action vibe although it’s overloaded with signature moves and grunting, because it’s trying to be faithful to the Tomb Raider video game which was very popular in its day, and heavily marketed around the theoretical attractiveness of its Lara Croft character. Then when this movie came out, it was heavily promoted around Angelina Jolia‘s (over-rated) aesthetic appeal. Although she’d previously starred in a few movies, including co-starring in Hackers 6 years prior, it was this Tomb Raider movie that launched her career from stardom to superstardom, not entirely on merit but by design — it was probably offered to her as a reward for her status ‘in the club’ and the deeds she did to get there. Not a particularly bad casting choice; but compared to the video game character, Jolie is all shoulders no hips.
Albeit this movie is based on the video game, the general franchise is probably heavily inspired by the Indiana Jones saga. The genre is practically an exact match — heavily archaeology themed, with similar types of stunts and similar levels of supernaturalism.
This movie is graced with the presence of Chris Barrie – well known in the UK at the time of this movie for his roles in Red Dwarf and The Brittas Empire which kept him on terrestrial TV throughout the 90s.
A young Daniel Craig (early 30s) also plays a key role in this movie, 5 years before starring in his first Bond movie. Although I think he absolutely ruined the Bond series singlehandedly from 2006 till this day, he actually did alright in Tomb Raider — this kind of humble supporting role, and this kind of look (before the steroids) are much more suited to him than the lead role of a Bond movie.
Due to the constancy of pace & entertainment, and lack of annoying drama, even though the quality never peaks as high as I’d like it to, I’m going to rate this movie Above Average.
Sequel and remake
The immediate sequel, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle Of Life (2003), starring Angelina Jolie and Gerard Butler, is about as good as the original, and continues precisely the same theme & genre as the original, just with Jolie aged a couple years and it’s kind of noticeable. I rate them both just Above Average, no more no less. Since the sequel didn’t particularly improve on the original, Jolie probably decided there were better movies — or at least more interesting, fresh new concepts — to make in the following years, and she wasn’t wrong — we got Mr & Mrs Smith (2005) and Wanted (2008) for example.
There’s also a 2018 remake starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, which is not a bad movie if you’re into this genre, but it doesn’t best the original 2 either. Vikander commands less stage presence and is physically thinner set, but is about equal to Angelina in terms of balanced aesthetics and tomboy nature (all shoulders, no hips).