Review – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Even by the relatively low standards set by previous movies based on video games, this one’s pretty stupid. The story is some mumbo jumbo about ancient relics, planetary convergence, long-lost fathers, the Illuminati, and so on. But of course none of that is the point here. There are also plenty of high-jumping, kung fu kicking, effects-intensive action sequences, though not quite as many as I expected (and a few more might have been a nice break from the thoroughly uninteresting plot exposition and what passes for character development). But the violence wasn’t really the point, either. The point, as near as I can tell, is to provide male adolescents with as hefty a dose as possible of Angelina Jolie as the physical embodiment of top-heavy battle hero Lara Croft, complete with a seemingly endless parade of tight-fitting combat fashions. So if that’s what you want, then you’re going to get your money’s worth. Otherwise it might be better spent elsewhere. See if desperate