Films
have been based on novels, stage plays, true stories, operas,
and even comic books. Now comes, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,
based on a video game, with Simon West as director. The first
Hollywood feature film shot in Cambodia since Lord Jim (1965),
with a few scenes in England and Iceland, the movie mostly
consists of sets of the Indiana Jones genre, with animations
pasted onto the various scenes. China was the first choice
for the film, but dealing with the bureaucracy proved so frustrating
that Paramount Pictures decided to try the more agreeable
atmosphere in Cambodia. The story is rather vague. Lady Lara
Croft (played by a muscular, confident Angelina Jolie) is
the daughter of a brilliant scientist, Lord Croft (played
by Jon Voight), who died on May 15, 1985, while on an exploration
in the Himalayas. Lara wants to find the cause of his death,
so she keeps track of those who accompanied her dad, especially
Manfred Powell (played by Iain Glenn), thanks to Bryce (played
by Noah Taylor), a computer nerd who is on the lookout for
her. Meanwhile, the Illuminati, a conspiratorial group of
white male graybeards in Venice (where the film is not shot),
seek to dominate the universe with the Triangle of Light,
so they engage lawyer Powell. The deadline is when all the
sun’s planets will be in alignment for the first time in 5,000
years, supposedly unlocking the object from otherwise dormant
strongboxes. Half of the Triangle of Light is uncovered at
an underground tomb below the ninth century temple Angkor
Wat (which, of course, has no underground tomb) in order to
fit into the other half at the North Pole (for which Iceland
provides some of the set). There is a lot of shooting at monsters,
including statues in the tomb that come to life, and ultimately
nothing much happens of consequence, but Lara the fighter
moves her body as if she were a ballet star in black tights.
The emotional high point of the film comes when Lara meets
her father in a time warp, because she gets possession of
the Triangle of Light that the Illuminati were seeking. (In
real life Angelina is Jon’s daughter.) All the beauty of Angkor
may bring tourists to Cambodia, but they will be disappointed
to find that the temple has not been taken over by the jungle,
that there is nothing underground, and that there is no floating
market in front. Cambodians were paid $20 each for four days
as extras, while Jolie basked in a hotel suite at $1,900 per
night. Tasteless Hollywoodisms included plans to provide fireworks
at the temple, but the scene was dropped when Cambodian authorities
objected that they have already heard enough explosions in
their lifetime. Film reviews are not supposed to give away
the ending, but filmviewers are more likely to remember the
special effects and the scenery (which also includes the temples
of Bakheng and Bayon) than the ending. In any case Angelina
Jolie has already returned to Cambodia for the filming of
Oliver Stone’s Beyond Borders, and Matt Dillon
has picked Cambodia for his Beneath the Banyan Tree.
For Leung Choun, the abbot of the monastery near Angkor, the
recent films (including the last scene of the recent In
the Mood for Love) fulfill a Buddhist prediction
that peace will return to Cambodia when Angkor Wat will again
become recognized as great. Maybe prosperity, too? MH
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