Tomb Raider: Anniversary was one of Angelina Jolie’s first big roles and the action-packed film thrust her into near-blandry land and branded her as a powerful lady capable of tackling tough dude films. It was a huge success and Jolie, in her first non-topscore film, had an eight-year-long career. She would go on to star in four more films. Let’s look at them.
First up is Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a follow-up on the successful horror filmials of Tomb Raider. Angelina Jolie is back as Tomb Raider in a new chapter. The heroine this time is the daughter from a wealthy family living in Los Angeles. When her best friend is killed, she assumes the role of protector and seeks out her own personal guru, a man who can help her find her long lost father.
Tomb Raider Anniversary follows the plot of the first video game, and while it picks up shortly after the events of the second game, we get to revisit the ‘protector’ duties once again. The story revolves around the evil plans of a group of scientists who are trying to make a video game out of cloning. This means that instead of just being an ordinary gamer, Angelina must now play the role of the savior of mankind. You’ll enjoy Anniversary if you liked Tomb Raider. It includes cut scenes from the original game.
Tomb Raider: After Rise is the third installment in the saga of the Tomb Raider series and Angelina Jolie returns as the heroine. We see her save the world with the help of a strange video game (not this one though). The storyline is the same as that of the first game, but this version adds a few interesting twists. Tomb Raider: After Rise stars Angelina Jolie as the lead character, along with Dylan O’Brien and Ki Hong Lee, and Dexter Darden.
While it isn’t necessary to actually know anything about the first Tomb Raider game before watching the sequel, most people who played the original know how difficult and cerebral the first game was. Fortunately, Tomb Raider: After Rise manages to maintain the interest of fans of the original while still managing to be enjoyable for a modern fan. The reason why is because the film follows the well-known science fiction tale that’s been told many times over. It’s not difficult to see why science fiction movies would be so popular if you grew up reading it.
A good example of this is that Tomb Raider started as something that all kids were talking about. The story of a group of researchers who were looking for mythical metal “The orb” was the basis of the first movie. The team needed the orb to activate an energy portal to take them to safety. Unfortunately, they didn’t find it in time. Because of this failure, the team members were stranded on an alien planet with no means of travel. They had to rely upon others for survival until help arrived because of their limited resources.
Although the main story line of the film revolved around a science fiction adventure, the lead character of Angelina Jolie certainly didn’t let that rule out of her mind when casting her movie role. Despite having small roles in previous science fiction flicks, Angelina Jolie seemed like she was completely prepared for her role in the first Tomb raider video game. Although it was a small part, the perfect fit seemed to her. It also made perfect sense that Angelina Jolie was perfect for the part of Lara Croft, given her own background and relationship with the Tomb raider franchise prior to this film.
The film did not do Tomb Raider any favors for its story, and this is probably why Angelina Jolie was ultimately cast to play the lead role. However, the film did do her a world of good as she was able to channel her anger and frustration from the film into one of the best acting performances of her career. The movie did not do well at the box office but it did bring in a lot of money thanks to its marketing and ticket sales. Angelina Jolie gives another outstanding performance as the annoying, foul-tempered tomb raider.