Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
2001 · Directed by Simon West
Original language: English
- adventure
- action
- fantasy
The story
Orphaned heiress, English aristocrat and intrepid archaeologist, Lara Croft, embarks on a dangerous quest to retrieve the two halves of an ancient artifact which controls time before it falls into the wrong hands. As an extremely rare planetary alignment is about to occur for the first time in 5,000 years, the fearless tomb raider will have to team up with rival adventurers and sworn enemies to collect the pieces, while time is running out. But, in the end, who can harness the archaic talisman's unlimited power?
What it’s like
Glossy, saturated early-2000s blockbuster imagery: sun-bleached jungle temples lit in hot amber, cool blue-grey English estate interiors, and sweeping crane shots that glide over crumbling stone and dust-filled chambers. The editing is quick and kinetic, with action cut to a propulsive orchestral-electronic score, while quieter passages in tombs give way to ambient drips and echoes. The palette swings between warm ochre and cold steel, and the framing favours heroic low angles on its lead. The vibe is bombastic, escapist and a little tongue-in-cheek, well suited to a Friday night with friends, a comfort watch on a long-haul flight, or a lazy afternoon when you want spectacle without much thinking. Pacing is brisk, with long runs of chase, combat and booby-trapped ruins broken up by banter and a few tender glances. Intensity is moderate: gunfights and fistfights with brief, bloodless injuries, falls and explosions, and tense peril in dark tombs, but no gore and little real cruelty. The emotional register is adventurous and self-assured, following a fiercely independent heiress who keeps her wits and her nerve. It is for viewers who want big-screen adventure and a heroine who outruns and outthinks the men around her, without grimness.
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