Video Game Review: Tomb Raider: Legend

Upon celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Tomb Raider franchise underwent a pretty heavy-duty make-over in Tomb Raider:  Legend.  With a new developer, the series would start with a fresh new direction, ensuring that Lara Croft's adventures would continue for a while longer.

Legend definitely has its share of coolness.  As before, you play Lara on a quest to raid tombs and fight bad guys.  This time, the relic in question is Excalibur, and the Arthur legend is interpreted in a pretty loose way that spreads the tale across multiple countries.  As always, you are required to climb seemingly-impossible obstacles with precise, complex acrobatic moves.  You occasionally fight armed goons and supernatural bosses (although, I don't recall many animals in this game).  In addition to the main story, you can also explore the Croft manor for bonus collectables, and you can unlock a plethora of bonus material.  Overall, the experience is an adventurous rush, much akin to a regular Indiana Jones or Dirk Pitt story.

All that being said, the game had its frustrating parts.  I found myself breezing through parts of it satisfactorily, but then I'd be held up with some obstacle or crazy boss fight that just kept me stuck for hours.  Part of the problem is that the game has a few iffy glitches (at least on the PS3's HD collection, I'm not sure how this game actually fared when it was first released for the PC and older consoles).  Lara would often die an inexplicable, stupid death (especially in the last boss fight, where swinging Excalibur suddenly backfired and caused her to fly off the map).  I had plenty of moments where a jump was miscalculated, either by me or the machine.  It was never a smooth or fully-enjoyable experience, unfortunately; the game has a pretty even mix of good and bad moments.

The story that's told here is at least most of the way relevant, given that it explores more of Lara Croft's backstory and uses it as a focus for the main conflict.  It is still episodic in a contrived way, stringing together exotic locations for the sake of giving you a series of unique levels with unique challenges.  The game ultimately hits up some decent character-building points, but the plotting feels like more of the same.

This game boasts some adequate graphics, especially for its time.  It is most notable for its animation and movements; Lara's climbing and acrobatics are quite flexible and dynamic, and offer its own array of challenges.  The gameplay and control scheme overall is pretty sublime and easy to master.  Levels are well-designed, and features okay-looking settings, items, costumes, and creatures.  Sounds and voices aren't too bad, and the music is lovely.

Playing Tomb Raider:  Legend is pretty fun, but with a few frustrating moments.  If you're a casual fan of adventure gaming, it'll be worthwhile as long as you're patient and able to stick with it.  Fans should love it though.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Pretty Good | Story:  Pretty Good | Game:  Good)

Film Review: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the Cradle of Life

One of the most popular characters in video gaming lore returns to the big screen! I've always wanted to like the first Tomb Raider film, and it does have its moments, but something about it always threw me off. I blame it on its indulgence in style over substance, with its chopped-up action scenes, choppy narrative, and one too many surreal scenes.  As it is with any sequel, I expected improvements. Even though both films were poorly received by critics, I do believe that the second Tomb Raider film delivers the solid, straightforward adventure story I always expected.

If nothing else, TR:COL cuts to the chase and maintains a clearer narrative than its predecessor.  It still has its excesses (do we really need to see Lara doing flips on a jetski?), but the pacing is tight and even throughout.  This sequel is still really high on style and action, but it is a smooth and fluid experience; while the first film was rather choppy, this movie is smooth with its camera work and editing, allowing the action to flow and stand well on its own.  There are plenty of smashing shoot-out scenes (especially in the Hong Kong scenes), and quite a few impressive stunts.  Special effects are used quite liberally, for better or for worse.  Overall, the action and style is satisfying.

The substance suffers a little, especially since the strengths of the first film are absent.  This film keeps the characters one-dimensional. The best that can be said is that they try to develop chemistry, which is meant to resonate stronger by the film's conclusion, and it is partway successful. As far as the plot goes, it's pretty standard adventure fare, but I felt that the quest for Pandora's Box was a fairly interesting subject.  The film does suffer from some ridiculous scenes (such as Lara punching a shark...really?!), but for a brainless popcorn flick, I've seen way worse.

This film is really smooth and slick, with stylish and solid photography and editing. Acting is not a huge standout, but it's not as cringe-worthy as the first film. Angelina Jolie returns and does her best to bring Lara Croft to life; even though she still only channels the single-dimension action heroine of the late 90s and early 00s, she does a decent job at it. Gerard Butler puts in as much charm as he can, for better or for worse. Everybody else is passable. Writing is average. This production has some great-looking locales, and features some slick sets, props, and costumes. Special effects are fairly pretty to look at, but are often frivolous and still rather fake-looking. Music is cool; the soundtrack features a number of good songs, while Alan Silvestri's score pretty much uses the same melody as The Mummy Returns to strike up the right tone.

I personally enjoy this film, because even if it is a shallow run-of-the-mill cash-in, it is a good-looking action-packed one.  Really, it's only recommended to diehard fans.

4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Average | Film: Pretty Good)

Film Review: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Since its initial release in 1996, Tomb Raider is one of the most prominent video game franchises. It did to games what Indiana Jones did to movies and what Clive Cussler did to books: they all tap into a certain sense of adventure, with ties in archeology and ancient history, and with liberal amounts of action and peril, to immerse the audience in a thrilling experience. Lara Croft may be well-known for her...ahem...bodily proportions...but she is an action heroine who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Indy and Dirk Pitt, in terms of physique, confidence, knowledge, and wit.

Inevitably, the live-action film for Tomb Raider was released in 2001, with enough hype to build it up as one of the biggest action hits of the year. The film definitely tries its hardest to be cool and hip; right from the start, it's loaded with unusual camera tricks and movements, with lots of frivolous time-lapse shots and fast cuts. A high-tempo soundtrack accentuates the small wealth of shoot-outs, chases, fights, and athletic stunts. The film does entertain, and there are moments where the action does come off as being "cool" and still holds up. A lot of it is pretty senseless and frivolous, and there is an underlying impression that the film is merely emulating a game experience, boss fights and all. Regardless, the film is successful at being stylish and fun.

On the other hand, the style becomes so heavy-handed that it does bring down the experience a notch. Frequent flashbacks and other random scenes disrupt the flow of the film. Some scenes, especially toward the end, become so surreal and weird, they further disrupt what should otherwise be a straightforward adventure flick.

With these random scenes, however, the film does try its best to dig up some solid substance. The story is not bad, per se, and it does its best to add some backstory and relevance to the characters and plot. I'm certain the filmmakers (and some audiences too) geeked out when they saw John Voight playing Lara Croft's father. The actual plotline, however, is pretty screwy, and follows the exact same structure as a video game (cut-scene, enter new area, fight bad guys, fight boss, obtain artifact, continue to next zone). Lara Croft is a two-dimensional character at best, for even with a backstory, there's never really enough to flesh her out and illicit much empathy for her or her struggles.

As mentioned above, the film has style, for better or for worse. Acting is a strange animal to judge here; Angelina Jolie is easily the centerpiece of the show, and she fits the part physically. She also does inject her character with a certain playfulness and wit that suits the character. Now that the games have evolved in so many different ways, however, I can't help but to regard Jolie's performance as an antiquated one-dimensional portrayal of Lara, same as it was in the 90s, lacking in nuanced depth or emotion.   Emulating the classic Lara Croft, Jolie does a good job, but in the future, I'm certain that she'll be supplanted very easily (especially if the 2013 game is any indication). As far as everybody else goes, they're serviceable at best. Except for a few witty lines, the writing is pretty bad. This production has decent sets, props, and costumes, but also some rather aged and bad special effects. Music tries its best to seem cool; the soundtrack is a favorite of mine, but it can serve as a distraction during the actual movie. The score is alright.

With all the style and action, and with the promise of seeing the classic video game character brought to life, the Tomb Raider movie seemed like a big movie event of my generation. It did its part well enough, but it remains a rather shallow and uneven experience.  It would be worth a look for fans and anybody interested in adventure flicks.

3.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Average | Film: Average)