Tomb Raider is the kind of movie you can watch while reading a book and not miss a thing. Lara Croft originated in video games as a wild, sassy heroine with amazing acrobatic skill and two Desert Eagles to back her up, and her games supercharged that industry. The idea for the movie was to cross Indiana Jones with James Bond, throw in a little bit of Batman's dark side and humor from The Mummy, and populate the lead role with a sexy, academy award-winning actress, Angelina Jolie. You would think that formula couldn't lose, but the final serving is a mess. I prefer the video games, even the later ones.Director Simon West approached this film as if he were shooting a commercial or music video. Every single shot is some high-concept, slow-mo dutch angle that lovingly follows our heroine on her adventure: we lovingly watch Lara open the door, then lovingly watch her close the door, that kind of thing. It gets old fast. The plot, too, is full of exotic locations and references to the films I mentioned above, and nothing is missing but some logic to make any sense of it. Major plot points are lost in the glamor, and the endless sexy shots of our heroine and her hapless foes. Enemies suddenly become friends for no sensible reason, and the major plot-twist is so uninspiring that if you blink you'll miss it. The CGI enemies for Lara Croft look terrible and are about as entertaining as a barrel full of Jar-Jar Binks'. The dialog is horrendous. "My ignorance amuses me" is a real line that is actually heard 3 times, and it was just as dumb as it sounds. I don't think the characters were even listening to each other, just say cool-sounding things to match the empty shine of the entire over-paid mess. The onscreen meeting of offscreen fatherand dauther John Voight and Jolie is touching, dispite the fact that they don't have much to say to each other.I admire the daring of the filmmakers to place Lara Croft on equal footing with any male enemy she faces - Croft simply karate chops 'em to the ground exactly as if she were a man, no dirty tricks, just pure power and skill. Unfortunately, Angelina Jolie isn't believably as a nimble acrobatic kung-fu master. Jolie DOES play Croft with a large does of sensual sexuality, but she throws a kick like a turle, and the wire work in this move is terrible, nothing as interesting as The Matrix. Jolie doesn't look graceful, she looks clumbsy.THE DVD - is a good one. The making of documentary is from HBO, which means that it's about 3 stars out of 5. There is an audio commentary and lots of little featurettes about various fxs and training for Jolie. U2's excellent video is a must see.