Review of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) by Idontlike F — 15 Nov 2011

Rating it high, despite some obvious flaws, because it's a movie I've rewatched several times and still enjoy.

Neglecting the trite plot, we've got an orphaned 'educated thrill seeker' who saves the world at a cost of learning the Dead Daddy Kept Secrets trope. Yet she comes off as strong (duh), independent, humorous, somehow down-to-earth, and even spiritual. She's likeable!

Unfortunately, after watching a few times, the flaws in her character (the script) jump out at you: she's BORED with tomb raiding (evidenced by her dismissal of potential projects at the start of the movie), which doesn't fit with either the game or the rest of the movie. After the movie's over, you can't imagine what else she could do to 'top that'. She has no interpersonal skills, so you know she's not going to hook up. *shrug*.

Also, I think for AJ's LC to come off as even remotely believable, she shouldn't have been indestructible. (A trickle of blood doesn't count.) If you're going to make a 'perfect' character, and not call her Jesus, you've got to shoot her leg off, or at least have her suffer some dire consequence that'll last the rest of her life. You know, to build her character. Even the loss of her mother's locket would have helped.

But I enjoyed the bungee ballet, the snap-on gun, LC's sidekicks, the stunts, and her one humanizing moment (choosing to save Alex, although that has no real consequence in her life).

She's sorta a Batman, working outside the law (even against the law, you know, raiding tombs); fueled by the death of her parents. AJ plays the part very well (minus laughing as she escapes the final scene on the dogsleds, but that was probably a production note). But even Batman takes his licks. (Even game-version LC takes her licks.).

But ultimately, will watch again; and again. 4/5.