Movie Review

This movie is quite strange to watch due to the mixed emotions you'll feel from it. On certain parts it's quite good and falls to pieces on others. Well, let's concentrate on the good first shall we?

The makers of this film have made a decent effort to find out how the British think and feel and what their tastes are. This really shows up in some of the casting and various other things like vehicles.

A lot of people are going to recognise Chris Barrie in this movie and personally I'd remove a star from the film if it didn't include him. To you Americans who are unaware of his existence, he is an actor in two famous BBC sitcoms, one being "The Brittas Empire" and the other being an extremely popular space-sitcom throughout England and the British Commonwealth (including Australia, where I live), "Red Dwarf".

It was quite obvious that he was enjoying the role of the butler in this film and I noticed a bit of a smug look when he was donning the shotgun. This made me feel a bit weird too, as I'm accustomed to seeing him play the neurotic, cowardly Rimmer in "Red Dwarf". Big fans of the series will enjoy this flick due to him being in it, plus I think the average Red Dwarf fan wouldn't mind having a bash at Tomb Raider every now and again anyway(although it was a bit weird not having an old guy as the butler).

Those of you that've have played TR: Chronicles will note that her techno-boffin sidekick in this is English instead of that annoying American guy that was in the game. Actually, the techno-boffin in this is really Australian but he managed to do a decent accent (as did Angelina Jolie).

What many people like myself were wondering when we heard that Angelina would be the actress for Lara was, "will she be any good?". Well she was actually quite good. The reasoning behind the choice of her for the actress becomes quite clear when you see her figure and realise that it comes quite close to that of the in-game character. The accent was surpisingly good from her and there weren't really any signs of a nasal American twang which made me feel somewhat relieved.

One last thing before we move onto the bad points is the inclusion of the Land Rover in the film. Those of you who've played TR: The Last Revelation will remember driving around in the Landy and luckily it has been included in this film (although I must insult the git who called it a Jeep in the cover manual!). The inclusion of the V8 Defender in this shows that the makers of the film did do some decent research into British four wheel drives and made me feel quite smug, being a bit of a fan of Land Rovers myself.

Now, the bad points.

The first half of this movie is really quite enjoyable and has the British subtleties that we have gotten used to in English acting but is lost a bit in the second half. Most of us know that English acting is quite classy and Americans tend to have stupid one-liners and flashy talk all the way through their films. Well this had a bit of both but mostly classy acting. It was a bit of a shame though because it started off quite well and it's not good for a movie to go downhill instead of the other way.

To expand on what I mean a bit more, about three quarters of the way through the film Lara was suddenly striking poses that would have been more at home in a rubbish film like "Gone in 60 Seconds" and is quite inconsistent to the in-game character we all know and love. However the start of the film wouldn't have annoyed any of us and was quite well done.

Your opinion on the plot line will differ depending on whether or not you're a fan of the series. Most movie reviewers find it quite cliched but I think the makers of the film were trying to make the plot something like those found in the games, and it really does show (and this may be a good point if you're a fan).

Throughout the film you'll find that it has taken most of its influence from the games and you'll find yourself saying, "I've been here, or something very close to it" (there's a bit in Cambodia that'll please fans of TR 3). The two games it has the most influence from are probably 3 and 4 (The Last Revelation). The plot line is fairly similar to that of 3 with Lara travelling to different parts of the globe which have featured in the games here and there. At one point she's in Venice (TR 2), another in Cambodia (TR 4) and once around the North Pole Region (TR 3 had the South Pole but you get the idea).

The section in Cambodia is really quite stunning and was well featured in a lot of television pragrammes before its release in the cinemas. The choice of location was very refreshing due to its stunning scenery and the fact that it hasn't been in a film for a number of generations now (if ever). This actually caused some difficulties because no-one in Cambodia really knew what to do but I won't go into that.

As for Lara's home, the property shown in the film was quite close to the one we're accustomed to but changed here and there (probably for the better I'd say). The mansion shown had a much more monstrous and nostalgic feel than that of the one in the games and I was very impressed with it (although I did have a bit of an urge for her to run into the hedge maze!).

Well to some it all up, I'll say what every other reviewer says because it does describe it quite well. It's a bit of fun. To those of you that aren't really a big fan, you'll probably give it a 6 out of 10 but fans will give it a 7 or 8 depending on how big an actual fan they are. The best thing you can do here is to walk in expecting an absolute pile of twaddle because you'll probably be pleasantly surprised and think it wasn't too bad after all (much better than "Gone in 60 Seconds" anyway!).

anarchist tomato