Illuminati Confirmed?
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is not necessarily a work of art, but it is a quite satisfying form of entertainment. Director, Simon West, creates an alternate universe where the Illuminati exists and archeologists fight creatures made of stone. Perhaps better known for his work producing Black Hawk Down, another film based in action, West seems to know his way around an action based film, having also directed Con Air and Expendables 2.
The films main star, Angelina Jolie, plays a rich young woman, Lara Croft, who’s father left her the legacy of destroying the triangle of light. Jolie received an Oscar for her performance in Girl, Interrupted and has also starred in Salt, The Tourist, and Maleficent, which she also helped produce. On her quest to save the world, Jolie, encounters an old love interest- Alex West, played by Daniel Craig, leaders of the Illuminati, and ancient ruins that try to kill her. Craig is better known for his performances as James Bond in films such as; Casino Royale, Spectre, and Skyfall. The love-hate relationship between these two creates an unique twist in the storyline.
This film has come a long way since it’s release in 2001. A sequel was produced in 2003, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Angelina Jolie also starred in this film. It was directed by Jan de Bont and the cast consisted of stars such as Gerard Butler and Noah Taylor (who also starred in Lara Croft Tomb Raider). The film is currently being remade, but Jolie will not be starring in this film, instead Alicia Vikander will be taking her place as Lara Croft. The remake was just recently released on March 16th, 2018 in the United States and is in theaters all over the country. The film is directed by Roar Uthaug, he has also directed The Wave, Escape, Cold Prey, and Magic Silver. Overall the original film won 4 awards and was nominated for 18 awards in all. Included in the 4 awards won, were the ASCAP Award, BMI Film Music Award, Bogey Award in Silver, and the Yoga Award.
The special effects team did a fantastic job with this film. They brought to life some of the monsters that Croft battled on her quest. They made monsters of stone that were alive and a huge statue of a deity come to life and chase after Croft. Not only were the monsters great, but the time warps were also very creative. They used light that looked like it was moving to create a portal-like feel, that truly added to the film. I can honestly say that if the special effects had not been done in such a professional and creative way, it would have ruined the film. Since so much of the film was based around the special effects, if it had been done in an uncreative and unprofessional way, it would have made the film cheesy and not worth watching.
The film did not directly address a specific theme, but if you analyze the film instead of just enjoying it or watching it normally a theme begins to appear. After looking more deeply into the film, a person could take away the lesson of following what you believe or following your heart. In the film Lara Croft gets a message from her father that tells her to destroy the triangle of light, but Lara’s competition tries to convince her that her father was actually apart of the Illuminati and that he actually does not want her to destroy the triangle. Spoiler Alert: Lara follows what she knows, that her father is a trustworthy man and has never lied to her, and does as he asked her to do and destroys the triangle. Another lesson that could be taken away from this film, is to make the best of a bad situation. Towards the end of the film, Lara has to team up with her evil competitor to find the last half of the triangle of light, but when they find the triangle the villain of this story, shoots her past lover, Alex West, whom she has begun to develop feelings for again. Instead of taking revenge, she uses her anger to win the other half of the triangle, put it back together, which then allows her to go back in time and save Alex, and then destroy the triangle of light, thereby saving the world from the Illuminati. So, if you were to learn anything from Lara Croft Tomb Raider, it would have to be (this might sound cheesy, but) if you follow your heart, everything will work out and go the way you want it to and instead of wallowing in self-pity and feeling sad for yourself, make the most of the situation you are in. While other people are beating themselves up, go out in the world and do what you can.
Now let’s talk about the Illuminati, whatever your believe, real or not, this film clearly enforces the belief that the Illuminati is a real organization. Fun fact: the Illuminati has a webpage that you can visit: illuminatioffical.org, to learn all about their organization and what they stand for. Personally, I don’t think I believe that the Illuminati is responsible for the things that some people hold them accountable for, I don’t think you can deny the fact that they exist because someone clearly went through all the trouble of making a professional webpage for them. I think that like other things in life they only have the amount of power you are willing to give them, for example; for those that don’t believe, they have no power, but for those that do believe, they have the power to build pyramids and change history. But it sure makes for a good twist to the plot of a action or adventure film.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film. I thought it was pretty funny and I personally enjoy films of the action and adventure genre. You may ask where it ranks on my list of films that I have seen, and to that I would have to say somewhere in the middle to the lower end of the spectrum. While, I did enjoy the film, I do not think that it is a film that you could watch more than once in a week and probably not even more than once in a month. The film kept it’s audience on our toes throughout the entirety, reflecting on my mindset while watching Lara Croft Tomb Raider, I do not recall ever wishing for the film to speed up because it was boring. I think I would recommend this film to someone who was looking for something to watch of the action and adventure genre, specifically if they were looking for something in the treasure hunting area. To address the remake of this film, I would like to go see it and compare the two. It always seems that the remake falls short of the original, but I think that might not be the case here, with the advanced technology we have, virtually anything is possible. I would also like to compare the directors take on the story or in other words, how similar they are to each other simply by comparing the events of the film. I have seen the trailers for the film and I must say, it looks pretty good, maybe even better than Simon West’s version.
