Metascore
33 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 31 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 31
  2. Negative: 13 out of 31
  1. 75
    So monumentally silly, yet so wondrous to look at, that only a churl could find fault.
  2. Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    70
    She's (Jolie) the most amazing special effect in movies. The best thing in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a bungee-jumping ballet that Lara performs late at night in her mansion, soaring high and low in Japanese silk pajamas and with her hair pulled tightly back.
  3. Rather than the mad, kinetic video-game vigor you'd expect, the movie proceeds at a more leisurely and methodical gait. I rather liked that.
  4. Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    63
    As cumbersome as most films in this subgenre, Angelina Jolie makes it watchable.
  5. Unafraid to look absurd but lacks the self-conviction needed to come off as camp.
  6. Reviewed by: Cary Darling
    50
    The relevant question is: does it rock? And the answer, unfortunately, is no.
  7. Has all the appeal of a video game without the joystick. All you can do is watch. It's noisy and moves fast, but if you can't play, why pay?
  8. A by-the-numbers extravanganza that journeys from London to Venice to Siberia to Cambodia without ever really going anywhere.
  9. 50
    If only the story that surrounds this watchable heroine were as well-stacked.
  10. There's no clear plot, no memorable villains, no real logic. But there sure is action.
  11. I realize fantasy-based action movies aren't supposed to be as complex as William Gibson's novels. But do they have to be this simple-minded?
  12. 50
    It's all about action and ogling -- Jolie's boobs, butt and thighs get so much screen time they deserve their own credits.
  13. This is just cut-rate, generic daughter of Indy Jones hokum.
  14. 50
    Ultimately, Jolie's efforts to establish a character are dashed against the film's increasingly inane dialogue.
  15. Reviewed by: Jeff Giles
    50
    Couldn’t have arrived at a better time: movies have been so bad lately that audiences are positively starving for something mediocre.
  16. 42
    The opportunity to give Jolie the room to swagger like the "Charlie's Angels" or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" ladies is utterly squandered, and a video game franchise that might've resulted in a hoot of a film -- has been blown to dust.
  17. 40
    Game boys and girls will be disappointed by this fast-paced but shockingly dull adaptation.
  18. Reviewed by: Gemma Files
    40
    She's not a real person, in any way, shape or form -- which makes watching Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, the first in a projected series of live-action films based around her exploits, a visually spectacular yet oddly cheerless experience.
  19. 30
    Such an inept bundle of work -- crying out for the filmmaking equivalent of Ritalin, but still sluggish as syrup -- that it doesn't even provide an opportunity to ogle properly.
  20. 30
    Slick-dick director Simon West, of "Con Air" and "The General's Daughter" infamy, continues to show no flair at all for blending action and character. Jolie and Lara deserved better. So did we.
  21. 30
    Sitting through the lavish and dumb action spectacular Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is about as much fun as watching someone else play a video game.
  22. Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    30
    Has the distinction of being a major motion picture that's far less imaginative, and quite a bit more stupid, than the interactive game it's based on.
  23. A staggeringly bad picture: a shallow, cliche-ridden mess that keeps blowing up on screen.
  24. 25
    The effects are cheesy, the photography is murky, the sets look like leftovers from a Las Vegas stage spectacular -- and the flick appears to have been edited with a roulette wheel.
  25. These are good moments, and there are a few others, that prevent Tomb Raider from being one of the worst films of the year. But they're not enough to make it worth seeing.
  26. Since the expensive new movie version of the popular video game, Tomb Raider, is very true to its origins, it's a colossal bore.
  27. So pandering and pebble-brained you'd guess it had been test-screened on barnyard animals.
  28. Almost completely lacking in genuine thrills. Even the attractive presence of star Angelina Jolie can't keep this leaden, plodding, completely underwhelming film from playing like "Lara Croft: Yawn Inducer."
  29. Remarkably joyless, even though Ms. Jolie is a formidable presence with the potential for becoming a witty one.
  30. It is the perfect modern product: loud, banal, empty, frenzied, plasticized, flavorless, drab, violent in a bloodless way and sexy in a sexless way.
  31. 0
    The game is great fun -- the movie ought to be taken out back and shot.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 79 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 33
  2. Negative: 8 out of 33
  1. I recommend playing the game rather than watching the movie. It's better.
  2. a boring piece of crap
  3. christians
    7
    Angelina Jolie is a perfect Lara Croft and the film is a lot of fun. as for it's sequel, skip it.