Hi I'm back and raring to write on Ciao after a 3 month exam break, all of which I PASSED Yippee!! A...
Hi I'm back and raring to write on Ciao after a 3 month exam break, all of which I PASSED Yippee!! All the work was worth it so now for a summer of sun (?), fun and Ciao ;-)
Member since:13.09.2000
Reviews:115
Members who trust:26
I was somewhat hesitant to agree to go and watch Lara Croft Tomb Raider with my boyfriend at the weekend, but if anything his pure enthusiasm for the film was all the encouragement I needed to go along and see it. Unlike him I had not played the computer game (do I dare even admit to hating computer games let alone action ones?!), so on one hand I thought I wouldn’t understand the film. I had decided that the plot would be intricately involved with the games that had previously been released. Also I had considered the possibility that in an attempt to chase the big bucks the film’s producers would make a point of reproducing the busty image of Lara Croft to the extent that Lara would be 90% boobs. And I am generally not that keen on action films. I had it all set out in my head that this would be a very boring 2 hours.
So I went to see the movie.
Having seen
the movie twice since the weekend, I would like to take back all of what I have said above. I was wrong.
Lara Croft is an intelligent “tomb raider” cum archeologist type, who is all clued up on the mysteries, secrets and legends of the world and seems to enjoy the thrill of the quest to discover whether they are true. She was inspired by her father, a rich Lord and a member of the army who was killed when she was young, leaving her his huge mansion and estate where she lives with her butler and computer geek employee Bryce.
The alignment of all of the planets in the Solar System happens once every 5,000 years, bringing about a total eclipse of the sun. And it is about to occur. Legend has it that at the exact moment of the alignment, he who beholds the key to the silver triangle can own time itself, and use at his discretion. However, the triangle had been split into 2 and its pieces hidden to prevent people finding it so that man may not abuse this awesome power. The Illuminati, a secret group who meet in Venice, are working with ancient clues to find the pieces so that they may fulfil the prophecy of their ancestors, but first they must have the key in order to find the pieces.
One night when the alignment begins, Lara is awoken by a ticking noise she locates to a secret room beneath the stairs. Here she finds a special clock hidden within a grandfather clock. Keen to discover whether this clock is a part of the alignment and whether it is the key to the pieces, she takes it to a friend of her late father’s for advice. She does not know what a big mistake this would turn out to be as he sells her out to the Illuminati and to Powell, a devious man with his own agenda who the group have employed to find the key. The clock is stolen from her, and she must battle in what little time is left to stop the Illuminati and Powell getting hold of the pieces of the triangle and getting hold of time. Lara has a lot to learn along the way, including the devastating truth about her father’s activities and his death, and especially about herself.
The cast is superb at bringing the film to life, and Angelina Jolie is an excellent choice to play Lara, not just because she looks so much like her character! I was particularly impressed with her gunfighting – the girl would fire her guns constantly and her face would not even flinch! She depicts Lara perfectly as an athletic, strong-willed person who is ultimately weakened by the death of her dearly loved father.
The film is not as full of action and violence as I had expected it to be, but it is a major feature of the film as Lara’s presence and attempts to stop the uniting of the pieces of the triangle are not particularly welcomed by Powell. The action scenes are brilliantly done and very impressive. The swearing content is refreshingly low. I think the scriptwriters decided the plot didn’t need it so mercifully kept the swearing to a safe minimum, so safe I took my mother (someone who hates on-screen swearing) to see the film for her birthday this week. I would say the lack of swearing would make this film a candidate for a family trip to the cinema. A must-see.
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Production Year: 2004 - Action/Adventure - Director: Jon Turteltaub - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Angelina Jolie is the first and best reason to watchLara Croft Tomb Raider. She gives an ... more
extraordinarily committed, physically demanding performance, taking on the mantle of the video game heroine with real conviction and energy, and becoming the embod...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Angelina Jolie is the first and best reason to watchLara Croft Tomb Raider. She gives an ... more
extraordinarily committed, physically demanding performance, taking on the mantle of the video game heroine with real conviction and energy, and becoming the embod...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Lara Croft, the world's most famous video-game heroine, bursts onto the big screen in .. ... more
the most stylish and entertaining action-adventure movie in years!Exploring lost empires, finding priceless treasures, punishing villains in mortal combat.. it's a...
Advantages: Lara with true flesh. Don't have to "finish the game" to see how the story ends. Disadvantages: Lara's already existing biography has not been kept!
Advantages: Angelina Jolie, Angelina Jolie, Angelina Jolie. Oh, and some excellent action sequencies Disadvantages: No underwater swimming scenes, like in the game
![Lara Croft Tomb Raider -- Special Collector's Edition [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78528045.jpg "Lara Croft Tomb Raider -- Special Collector's Edition [DVD] [2001]")
Jul 11th, 2001
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