Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

There's a moment in this film where Angelina Jolie rappels down a wall, fires two pistols simultaneously, and lands without breaking a sweat, all while wearing an outfit that shouldn't be practical for anything more strenuous than a cocktail party. And honestly? That moment tells you everything you need to know about Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. It is exactly, precisely, gloriously the film it wants to be. Whether that's enough depends entirely on your tolerance for early-2000s blockbuster cheese.

Jolie is Lara Croft. Full stop. Whatever the script throws at her, however absurd the situation, she plays it with stone-faced commitment and a physical presence that demands your attention. She's fierce, funny without trying to be, and carries the whole film on her shoulders with effortless charisma. The role could have been a disaster in lesser hands, but Jolie makes you believe in this world, or at least makes you not care that you don't. That's a real skill, and it shouldn't be underestimated.

The plot is, to put it charitably, B-movie nonsense. An ancient artefact, a shadowy secret society, a ticking cosmic clock, and Iain Glen hamming it up magnificently as a villain who presumably has a manor full of traps because he simply enjoys the aesthetic. Nothing about the story holds up to even light scrutiny, and the film knows it. It leans into the comic-book absurdity with a grin, dressing everything in gothic production design and lush locations that give it a scale it probably doesn't deserve. For a while, it genuinely works. It's fun in a loud, brainless, Friday-night sort of way.

But here's the honest truth: strip away the nostalgia and Jolie's star power, and what you're left with is extremely average filmmaking. The pacing goes saggy in the middle stretches, the dialogue is clunky even by action film standards, and the stakes never feel real. The film gestures vaguely at deeper ideas about legacy, power, and destiny, but they get buried almost immediately under another explosion or another wardrobe change. It's all surface, which is fine, except that even the surface starts to feel thin after a while.

What really stings is the waste of the supporting cast. Daniel Craig shows up in a role so underwritten it's almost insulting in hindsight. He's given next to nothing to do and the film doesn't seem particularly interested in changing that. It's a shame, because a stronger ensemble might have helped paper over some of the structural cracks.

I reviewed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Cradle of Life (2003) as well, and it's worth comparing the two if you're on a Jolie kick. And if you're in the mood for another Jolie action spectacle from roughly this era, I had a good time with Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), which at least has the good sense to be charismatic all the way through. For pure unhinged late-90s action energy done right, I'd also point you toward Con Air (1997), a film that commits to its own ridiculousness far more successfully.

Two and a half stars. Worth one watch for the Jolie factor alone, and for the sheer audacity of how seriously it takes itself. There's a nostalgic pleasure in it, like finding an old action figure at the back of a cupboard. You're glad it exists. You're not going to play with it for very long. But for ninety-odd minutes on a Sunday afternoon with your brain firmly switched off, it does the job. Just don't go looking for more than that, because there isn't any.

Rating: ★★½  | Year: 2001  | Watched: 2025-10-24

View on Letterboxd →

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: fuboTV · Paramount+ Amazon Channel · Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More from Simon West: Con Air (1997)
More with Angelina Jolie: Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) · Kung Fu Panda (2008) · Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003) · Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
More from United Kingdom: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) · Blue (1993)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)