Tomb Raider

Angelina Jolie's calculated image as a sexy, knife-loving wild woman perfectly suits the role of Lara Croft, the thrill-seeking heroine of yet another big budget action assault, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." She's a dead ringer for the woman who millions of computer nerds have come to know and love, and she throws herself into action scenes with charismatic abandon.

But Hollywood likes to conveniently forget that looks aren't everything. Legitimate story momentum suffers the most when everyone is so wrapped up in the special effects.

Based on the hugely popular computer game of the same name, "Tomb Raider" relies on the inherent coolness of its lead character to keep you interested. As Croft, Jolie gets to swing on ropes, fire two pistols simultaneously, turn back-flips, sled across ice flows, dive off of cliffs, battle assorted CGI baddies, and dangle from a variety of ungainly mechanical contraptions. She even manages to slap a guy in the face with the rear tire of her motorcycle.

But Jolie isn't allowed to communicate anything beyond nerves of steel and a nonexistent pain threshold. Knowing looks and arched eyebrows are as expressive as Jolie gets; three consecutive sentences count as a soliloquy. If you don't view Lara's willingness to kick people in the face as a window to her soul, you'll be very disappointed.

Though the obvious point of reference is Indiana Jones, Lara is very much a female variation on Tim Burton's half-interested updating of the Batman character: She's rich, graceful, athletic, supposedly obsessed with a dead parent, and, in her downtime, close to somnambulant. But that's about all we know. Character shadings take a back seat to confusing exposition and feeble mysticism.
Waiting for action
Lara is the daughter of the late, lamented Lord Croft (Jon Voight, Jolie's real-life dad). She lives in a cavernous mansion surrounded by high-tech weapons, various bungee cords, and relics she's stolen from tombs around the world. Her barely there sidekick, Bryce (Noah Taylor), designs and builds the mechanisms required to keep her running and jumping and twisting and turning and stabbing and shooting. When she's done testing them, she takes a slow-motion shower.

"Tomb Raider" opens with a bang. The opening sequence is a flashy, exciting battle with a spider-like robot. But then director Simon West shifts the rhythm into low while you wait for another action sequence.

And wait. And wait.

This wouldn't be so bad if it felt like important details were accumulating, if there was some sense that Lara is being pulled deeper into a dangerous situation. But the story revolves around the search for two halves of an ancient artifact that's been buried in different parts of the world. We're supposed to be horrified that whoever nabs them first will be able to control time. Though the bad guy (an empty shell played by Iain Craig) is certainly up to no good, the details of his gang's evil plans are kept on the back burner.

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