Tomb Raider (English) Review

If the feminist movement is about making women boldly go where no woman has gone before, then here's the latest darling. This woman can beat up rock monsters and solve fairy tale puzzles, but what would make her an idol for neo-modern feminists is her goal - which, like we said, is to boldly go where no woman has gone before. Where that is, we shall shortly see.

In a nutshell, Lara Croft is the fairy tale of a fairy (read superheroine) called Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie). She is the daughter of a Lord in Venice who was an archeologist specializing in ancient supernatural phenomena (who pays these people?), and who disappears in the field with many secrets and mysteries, some of which he has shared with baby Lara. So this fairy tale has the fairy unwind the mystery of the fairy tale that her father had told her as a kid, which (you guessed) is not a fairy tale after all.

Now something about Lara. She stays in an obscenely large house (here's the answer to who pays these people - they don't need anyone's money) with two other members - one is her butler, and the other is a computer and robotics freak who lets out huge robots at her for her sparring practice. She has got all the combat training possible in the world, including skills in defying gravity. And now she wants to control time. Isn't that some career choice?

This control she can get from a triangular rock-piece that was built and used in the pre-medieval ages to destroy an ancient city that now lies in Antarctica. But mind you, not on any day. It can happen only when the nine planets of the solar system are in alignment and cause a total solar eclipse, which happens once every 5,000 years (which was just incidentally scheduled a week after the movie began - how lucky Hollywood gets sometimes).

Now to avoid misuse of the power, the triangle is broken into two and secured with supernatural locks in Antarctica and in a temple in Cambodia, and the key to these locks was discovered by Laura's father and left for her. To fetch these two pieces you'd have to fight many odds (rock monsters to mention one).

But there's an evil antique merchant who too shares the secret, and he too is after the triangle (how utterly unpredictable), and he steals the key from Lara. And in the ultimate showdown, good wins over evil (well, did you expect an art film?).

As for the concept, Lara Croft - Tomb Raider is not going to even remotely impact your adrenaline level. But the execution is good, and the special effects are sometimes breathtaking. The fight sequences are well knit and fast paced. And Angelina Jolie looks sexy as usual, but as for the feminism, my girlfriend dozed off in the middle of the movie.

Lara Croft is not for the "young at heart"; it is for the "kids at heart" (I really wonder why it has been given an "A" certificate). If you don't prefer a Sunday siesta, go for it, but if you expect stars from the movie (thanks to all the hype), you'll be much unhappier.