It’s basically well-known at this point in the film fan community that films based on video games are often mediocre adaptations of their source material. Whether it’s due to them being made by a filmmaker who completely misunderstands the franchise (e.g. the infamous Uwe Boll) or because they just end up being way too derivative of other films, it truly is saying something when films ‘about’ video games (e.g. Tron) are usually better by comparison. I mean, to be fair, there have been some video game adaptations that have done decently with audiences like Mortal Kombat but nothing that can be considered as a ‘critically acclaimed’ project. And if recent releases like Duncan Jones’ Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed starring Michael Fassbender are any indication, we’re still not there yet when it comes to ‘great’ films based on video games regardless of who gets involved with them. Despite that, though, the hunt for the first ‘great’ video game adaptation continues this weekend with the release of Tomb Raider. Starring Alicia Vikander in the lead role of the adventurous explorer Lara Croft, the film is directly inspired by the 2013 video game of the same name. However, this is not the first time that Lara Croft has graced the big screen. Prior to this, she was portrayed by Angelina Jolie in a pair of films from the early 2000’s that, from what I can gather, tend to be some of the better-received video game film adaptations amongst most audiences. In fact, the first of these films still stands as the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all-time at the domestic box-office even after all the films that came after it that ultimately ended up out-grossing it worldwide. But before we delve further into these films, let’s briefly go over the history of their source material.
In 1996, video game developers Core Design created Tomb Raider, an action-adventure game that focused on a female gun-toting archeologist named Lara Croft who went on various adventures where she searched for treasure and took on various threats, often supernatural ones. Upon its release, the game was a huge critical/commercial success and is now often touted as one of the most influential video games of its genre. Core Design continued to produce follow-ups to the original game until 2003 following the poorly-received sixth installment, Angel of Darkness. Fellow game developers Crystal Dynamics then proceeded to take over production of the series the following year, which led to a solidly received revival of the franchise that lasted for a few years until the time came for another reboot. Thus, in 2013, a grittier take on the franchise, once again titled Tomb Raider and still produced by Crystal Dynamics, was released and once again succeeded in effectively reviving the series. But through it all, one thing has remained consistent; the characterization of Lara Croft. Since her debut back in the late 90’s, Lara has been an icon of the video game industry, regarded by many as one of the best female protagonists in video games. At the same time, though, Lara has also become rather infamous due to her overt sex appeal that was mainly due to the character’s, um, how do I put this… well-endowed physique. Ok, so there’s no real way of getting around this; back then, much attention was made over Lara having a voluptuous figure, something that has thankfully been underplayed in recent installments including the 2013 reboot that this new film is directly based on. But until then, let’s look at the two films that were produced during Lara’s first video game incarnation.
LARA CROFT – TOMB RAIDER (2001)
We start off, of course, with the franchise’s original big screen outing, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Released in 2001, the film was directed by Simon West (Con Air, The Expendables 2) and came out exactly at the time that the franchise’s initial run was truly in its heyday. But when Angelina Jolie was cast as Lara Croft, some were hesitant about her taking on the role for various reasons, ranging from her controversial personal life to the fact that she was American despite Lara being a British character. However, in hindsight, many would agree that she was fantastic in the role. Jolie perfectly personifies Lara’s swagger and her lust for thrills, not to mention the fact that she did her own stunts. And on that note, the film does feature some solid action set-pieces despite a few instances where the editing gets a bit too frenetic. Ultimately, though, the film mainly succeeds at being exactly what it’s trying to be; a simple but fun action-adventure story. I mean, if you look at it from a narrative perspective, this film goes down some truly ludicrous routes from time to time, especially once it starts to tackle the subject of time travel (yes, time travel). Still, the film never takes itself too seriously and, of course, it’s all buoyed by Jolie’s excellent turn as Lara. She even gets a surprisingly effective foil in the form of the film’s delightfully campy main antagonist, Manfred Powell (Iain Glen), a fellow explorer and member of the Illuminati who, like Lara, seeks the Triangle of Light, a device that, as noted earlier, allows its user to manipulate time. These two are joined by a solid supporting cast that includes Jolie’s real-life father Jon Voight as Lara’s father Richard and Daniel Craig (goofy American accent notwithstanding) as fellow tomb raider Alex West. In short, yes, this film is an undeniably goofy action-adventure flick, but as far as video game adaptations go, at the very least it did its job of capturing the spirit of Tomb Raider from the perspective of where the franchise was at the time.
Rating: 3.5/5
LARA CROFT – TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE (2003)
After the first Tomb Raider film turned out to be a smash hit at the box-office, a sequel ended up getting released two years later. Titled Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, the film saw a change in director, with Jan de Bont taking on directorial duties for this installment. Prior to this film, de Bont was well-known for directing blockbusters like 1994’s Speed and 1996’s Twister; however, it’s also worth noting that this film ended up being his last major directorial effort to date. Not only that, but the film ended up receiving the same generally negative reception that its predecessor got while not doing as well financially despite having a smaller budget. But overall, I’d say that this film is on par with the original. Angelina Jolie is excellent once again as Lara, and while the film around her boasts a goofy plot in which she races to find Pandora’s Box, it does feature some more solid action sequences. And if there’s one advantage that this film has over its predecessor, it’s that it has better-filmed action sequences. Given that Jan de Bont is no stranger to the old-school era of the action genre having done the cinematography for films like The Hunt for Red October and the vaunted ‘holiday classic’ that is Die Hard, there isn’t as much frenetic editing in this film’s action sequences compared to the first. And while the villain (a scientist named Reiss played by Ciaran Hinds) isn’t as strong as the one in the first, this one gives Lara a better ‘love interest’. Yes, despite what I said before about Daniel Craig being a solid supporting player in the first film despite the accent, his character shared little screen-time with Lara despite the film’s attempt at trying to establish romantic tension between the two; heck, there wasn’t even any resolution to their relationship. Here, though, Gerard Butler’s Terry Sheridan plays a far greater role in the story and he has solid chemistry with Jolie. Thus, while it’s just as silly as its predecessor, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider- The Cradle of Life is still technically a better video game film than many others in its genre.
Rating: 3/5
And that ends this retrospective on the Tomb Raider films starring Angelina Jolie from the early 2000’s. While by no means masterpieces, it’s easy to see why these films are considered as some of the better installments of the video game film genre. Arguably the best thing that you can say about them is that they at least perfectly captured the spirit of what the franchise was like at the time, as will no doubt be the case with the new Tomb Raider film that took inspiration from the franchise’s current era. You can expect a review of that film sometime this week, but until then, be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own thoughts on these two films.
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