Hi. Thanks for taking the time to look at this. I'd like to start this review by trying to explain my circumstances and biases.
1) I really have been living under a rock for the last year (well, China, anyway) so I don't know how new this movie is. I hope this review isn't hopelessly outdated, but I just saw the vcd on the shelf this week.
2) I'm reviewing what is almost certainly a pirated copy of the movie (it's next to impossible to buy non-pirated movies and software here), so I may have missed something that I don't know about (I don't think so though).
3) I have never played any of the Tomb Raider games, so my background knowledge of the series is very limited.
4) Because I'm in China, I never saw any advertising for the movie, so my background knowledge of the movie is also very limited.
5) I'm purposefully making this a content-lite review; I don't feel the purpose of a movie review is to give away the plot, characters, and action of the movie. I believe this ruins it for those who haven't seen it. That said, if you want an analysis of the movie, rather than this, please tell me in the forums and I'll see what I can do.
And now that I'm done blathering, onto the review. Tomb Raider revolves around a perky young lass by the name of Lady Lara Croft. Ms. Croft is apparently a millionaire heiress who, well, raids tombs. I'm not sure whether she's an archaelogist or a thief, but she seems to be well-respected in the circles she travels (maybe she's a well-respected thief). Now, stealing from the dead doesn't seem to be a terribly ethical occupation, but apparently crime pays.
Ms. Croft shows off her physique and fighting style throughout the movie. (In fact, she seems to get about 90% of the movie's time. Of course, seeing as the movie's title feature's her name, this makes sense.) I found her character fairly believable, in an unbelievable kind of way. What I mean is that if you can get over the fact that she's ungodly rich, beautiful, tough, and skilled, the details form a relatively complex character. Yes, she's rich, beautiful, etc, but she's also unlucky in love and occasionally vulnerable. Do these flaws balance the merits? No - but why should they?
The other characters get much less time and development. They are, in fact, pretty much static, flat individuals who simply fill holes in the story. That said, they're cool static, flat individuals and they perform their roles in the movie well.
The special effects and the scenery in the movie did not disappoint me either. Just about everything looked cool (maybe not realistic, but who expects realism from a movie based on a video game?) and the setting helped advance the story. My only quibbles are that in both of the major locations, everything seemed too easy for the heroine. While the settings looked pretty, there really wasn't very much challenge.
Now, having said that I liked both the characters and the setting, I need to explain my opinion of the story. On the one hand, the story is fast and flows smoothly from scene to scene. It's almost never dull, and there are only a couple of points where the action slows down and stops (hey, every story needs a little exposition!). That said, there is very little explanation in this movie. I think the writers expected their viewers to already know all about the characters (well, at least Lara Croft) and decided to use the time that could have been spent on background on jamming in a little more action instead. So, even though I've seen the movie, I still can't say that I really know all that much about the Tomb Raider series.
I don't, however, care. At no point in this movie was I looking for a moment of pure inspiration - an "ahh! I get it now!" moment. I was looking for some fun action, and that's exactly what I got.
If you're looking for Shakespeare here, go rent Hamlet. This movie will dissapoint you. If you're looking for something easy and fun, something that just flows into your brain with no thought required, watch Tomb Raider.
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)