December 11, 2005 |

LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER

Cliffnotes review:
More enjoyable than a colonoscopy.

This film goes to: 3
Rated (PG-13)


Directed by: Simon West
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Iain Glen, John Voight, Noah Taylor
Written by: Sara Cooper, Mike Werb


100 minutes
Paramount Pictures
2001
Official site

Would someone please let me know when a decent film is made from a video game? Seriously, I want to be informed. Yet another "Blockbuster" from the summer of suck, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" dishes up all style and no substance in a special effects laden romp that seems to invest more importance in scenery than storytelling.

One convoluted scenario after another is loosely tied together with a tedious back-story of Lara Croft's (large-breastedly played by Angelina Jolie) missing-and-presumed-dead father (wax-figuredly portrayed by Jolie's real father, John Voight). The bad guys are predictably bad and the invincibility of Croft creates little that could be construed as suspense or apt storytelling. Every action sequence (and trust me, there are plenty) is chock full of traps and creatures that are systematically overcome by the acrobatic Croft. When any real danger rears its ugly head, the source is quickly overcome without tremendous effort or much in the way of anything that creates a sense of worry.

The "story" works as an Indiana Jones rip-off with the aligning of the planets causing great concern for a shadowy group of individuals who wish to reunite the pieces of an ancient relic in order to gain power over time. In a dream, Lara is told of a key that must be used to unlock the pieces of the puzzle and is then given clues to the whereabouts of the first of the pieces itself. Bad guys (headed by evil-lawyer Iain Glen and ethically-compromised rival archaeologist Daniel Craig) try to beat Croft to the prize in order to rule the world and, well… you get the point.

On the plus side, the larger-than-life sets are artfully crafted and some of the special effects are handled with skill (others fall far short of the mark). And, then again, there is always the eye-candy appeal of Jolie and her, uh, "assets" but if you are seriously interested in seeing more of Ms. Jolie, rent "Gia" or wait for the inevitable theft of her and Billy Bob Thorton's candid sex tape.

Thoughtful strategy. Practical execution.

Clear thinking, honest perspectives, and experience shaped by years of doing the work. No shortcuts, no borrowed opinions, just lessons learned by showing up, solving problems, and following ideas all the way through.

Four hikers with backpacks walking along a rocky mountain ridge under a blue sky
May 8, 2026
We are each our own greatest inhibitor. People don’t want to do new things if they think they’re going to be bad at them or people are going to laugh at them. You have to be willing to subject yourself to failure, to be bad, to fall on your head and do it again, and try stuff that you’ve never done in order to be the best you can be. ~ Laird Hamilton Yesterday: Hit Range Balls/Hike – Casa del Critters, 1:15 Today: Run – GGCSP, ~2 hours Tomorrow: Ride – Somewhere singlespeedy, ~2 hours Yesterday, Rach and I took a nice stroll in the woods around our house. The songbirds were going crazy-nuts and surprisingly, we only saw one other person walking his dog. I love where we live – close proximity to fun trails and the ability to get away from it all in just a short walk from our house. During lunch yesterday, I went to the driving range to get a few cuts in before playing a round of golf with my dad next week. I don’t get to play very often so need to brush up on my skills (or lack thereof) whenever I can. I am looking forward to playing with my pops and hope to break 100. I shot a 102 the last time I played so I am within striking distance of the sub-triple-digit score. We’ll see how things go. I usually do okay for most of the round and then fall apart on a couple of holes pushing my score way up. Dad shoots in the low 80s usually (I think). I am not sure I will ever play enough to be that good but it is fun to get out on the course now and again. I also went to see Dr. Paul yesterday for my ankle problem (which seems to have been resolved) and my knee (which is still a bit swollen but has decreased in size markedly over the past several days). The knee stems from my unscheduled nose-dive back in May (see this post for details). The shot some pictures and believe that everything is a-ok so that was good news. I just need to select better places for splashdowns in the future. And today is Luke’s birthday. Age is one place where I will always beat him but visit his blog to congratulate him on trying to catch up. Until next time…
Runner silhouetted at sunset on a rocky trail, mid-stride between hills.
May 8, 2026
Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience. ~ Elbert Hubbard Yesterday: Run – Casa del Critters/Flume, 1 hour 15 minutes Today: Ride/Hike/Relax Tomorrow: Run/Hike – Pawnee/Buchanan Passes, 6 hours? Yesterday I ran around the house. Not literally, mind you, but in the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous evening – calm, cool. Perfect. The wildflowers are really starting to take off up here and I was treated with a bold display of color throughout my run. Tons of Columbine lined the trailside as I ran on old mining roads and singletrack trails. It is really fun to see how much differently I am able to handle familiar terrain. I used to have difficulties running this loop and would have to walk major sections. Last night, I ran the entire loop without trouble and was able to moderate my speed to maintain a steady cadence through the run. Good times. Contracting is staying steady. A bit of a drop-off this week given the holiday but I am still managing to put in a decent number of hours. I picked up another new project today and will need to get started immediately to ensure that it gets completed on time.  Tomorrow, we are going to head up Pawnee Pass and loop back around to Buchanan Pass in the northern Indian Peaks Wilderness. This should be a fun challenge as we’ll get up pretty high, have to navigate some snow (most likely) and will be out for quite awhile. I am looking forward to it for sure . Movie time: I forgot to mention Shopgirl, a Steve Martin vehicle, we watched the other night. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but found this to be a charming film about loneliness. It was well acted and would recommend it for sure. The pacing is steady throughout and some might find it a little on the slow side but it was an engaging film that had a lot to say without being overly sappy.
Hands holding a tablet displaying a video player interface. The video is paused.
February 20, 2026
In case you hadn’t seen these (and also for my friends at Adventure Film ), here are a couple of must-see running movies from Joel Wolpert:  Geoff Roes: Slogging to the Top