Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
2-Movie Collection 4K
review by Bobby Blakey
Tomb Raider was a monster hit with video games fans when it debuted in 1996 that spawned numerous sequels, comics and more. In 2001 Lara Croft hit theaters with Angelina Jolie as the titular character in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider that co-starred Jon Voight, Daniel Craig, and Noah Taylor with Con Air and Expendables 2 director Simon West at the helm. In 2003 Jolie reprised the role for Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life this time co-starring Gerard Butler, Cirian Hinds, Noah Taylor, Djimon Hounsou, Simon Yam, and Til Schweiger with Twister and Speed director Jen De Bont at the helm.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider follows Lara Croft, a wealthy British archeologist/tomb raider who tries to thwart a secret society/doomesday cult seeking two pieces of a mysterious device hidden in two different places of the world in order to use it during a rare planetary alignment to bring them unlimited power to control or destroy the world.
I was never a big fan of this film when it originally came out and have no revisited it until now so was hoping that some nostalgia would help it to work a lot better now. I admit that I did enjoy the film a lot more this time around, but it is still a mixed bag of good and bad.
Jolie is perfectly cast in the role in regards to look and attitude making you believe the character jumped right out of the game and onto the big screen.
The first half of the film is entertaining as a straight forward adventure action flick, but it’s the second half that didn’t work as well. I am fine with all the supernatural aspects, but the effects don’t all hold up all that great and the overall nature of the story gets a bit silly.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: cradle of Life follows Lara Croft who has made perhaps the most important archaeological discovery in history: an orb that leads to the mythical Pandora's Box. Unfortunately, the orb falls into the hands of Jonathan Reiss, an evil scientist who deals in killer viruses and hopes to sell the secrets of the box as the ultimate weapon. Recruited by British Intelligence to get the orb back from Reiss, Lara recruits Terry Sheridan, a British marine turned mercenary (and her former love interest) to help. The two embark on an adventure that spans continents in an attempt to regain the orb.
Much like the first film this entry is hit and miss with the first half focusing on some fun adventure and action leading into yet another cheesy supernatural ending. Jolie is good in the role and seems to be having a good time, but this time around they seemed to try and make her harder edged which wasn’t necessary. In the first film she brought a great balance to the character where here they were trying for a more realistic approach to the overall film and in turn made her a bit one dimensional. The story is fine as it felt like an adventure Indiana Jones would have taken on right up until it gets to the ending. I am not opposed to the supernatural and creatures being injected into this type of film I just want it to be better. The special effects are not all that great and with the new transfer makes it all the more obvious.
At this point these films have their fans and will no doubt want to add these latest beautiful 4K transfers to their collection. While they have already released them individually on 4K, but this 2-moive collection is a more affordable way of nabbing both of them. In addition they are also releasing a newly remastered edition Blu-ray of the first film to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of its release.
Grab your copy of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2-Movie Collection on 4K or the 20th Anniversary Edition of the original Lara Croft: Tomb Raider when they hit stores on June 1st from Paramount Home Entertainment.