I'm really not sure what caused this sudden spark to rewatch Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider. I think I just had that itch to watch something that truly felt different. Something that came from a more simple era in film and television. I'm a bit bored of today's blockbuster titles and mega-budget cinematic television series, and I think that's partially why I just haven't been watching as many things lately. I just don't feel that they're as engaging. Out of nowhere this film came to mind, and I realised it has been forever since I last saw it. I barely even remember anything from it! And usually that's a nice feeling when you're going into a film you have seen before, to have it almost feel like it's new and the first time you're watching it again. Though, thinking about it, I think some of the reason I decided to watch this came from the fact that I was thinking about yesteryear's big Hollywood actors and actresses, and comparing them today's. There's something deeply distinct about the two. I'd go as far as saying today's Hollywood actors barely have it.
2001 was an interesting time for filmmaking. It was the time where the blockbuster had already been a thing for a few decades now, and Hollywood was looking elsewhere at making a bit of cash from its creations. And this coincided with the arrival of new video game platforms and franchises that were making silly amounts of money. Naturally, Hollywood studios wanted in on this. And that's where films like Tomb Raider came from. A slew of new films based on video games that ultimately didn't land. Whereas this one somewhat did, perhaps more so than the more recent attempt that came out with a sudden arrival of new interest in video game films. That landscape has changed quite dramatically with the increase in budgets and streaming services, and that makes this 2001 release of Tomb Raider a very unique thing. Let's not also forget that Angelina Jolie was considered quite an icon for younger men at the time. Everything about this film speaks of a different culture and era, and that's incredibly fascinating to look back on given how much society has shifted, despite such little time having passed.
This film doesn't diverge too far from the game's initial concept, it's quite a faithful film adaptation which was surprising for that era. Focusing on the character of Lara Croft as she roams through the many challenging environments. I have to say I'm not too surprised that this didn't really become something much larger, given that the story is something relatively simple, even from the games: Lara roams through ancient lands, discovering temples and lost civilisations, accumulating various treasures along the way while dealing with the various threats that await with similar agendas. And here that's pretty much how this story plays out, the only major difference being the film tries to add a bit more drama to it through the use of Lara's father and his own secretive lifestyle. I think this works to add a bit more than what's already there, it makes sense to add some drama that is needed to make Lara seem a bit more human; not just an adventurer but also one with family. Even Indiana Jones did something similar by given him younger accomplices, showing a more human side to the character.
Despite this being a film pretty much despised by critics, looking back at it, I think it is actually far better than we thought. There is some really creative and cool choreography to the action scenes that really emphasises the attraction of the character of Lara Croft. The slow motion shots of her firing off Magnums, the set design and use of wide angle lenses that make the world full of little details from foreground to background. There's a lot here in the directing that you'd miss with such extensive set design. This style just isn't really seen anymore too, and that's also an aspect of the film being shot on 35mm film stock which adds more grit and removes that sharpness in the world. It makes things look older, but there's another aspect of this that ends up being very useful to the film: the grit from the film stock ends up hiding the cheaper parts of production.
I think some of this improved quality also comes from the fact that much of the film was shot on location, utilising special effects only really when it was needed. This is quite a big difference compared to similar films of today in which they'd fake most things. It makes the world feel a bit more real and impressive.