Lady Lara Croft might sound like a prim and proper member of the English upper class but we soon see that she is far from that as she enters what appears to be an ancient tomb and ends up battling a robot… while wearing short shorts and a tee shirt that shows of her ample assets! This is just a training sequence to give us an idea what she can do. It turns out that a once in five thousand year planetary alignment is about to happen and a sinister organisation is desperate to get their hands on 'the key' which will enable then to get their hands on the two pieces of an ancient artefact that will allow them to control time itself. It turns out that Lara's late father found the key some time earlier and placed it in her country house. She finds it when it starts ticking and starts trying to find out what it is. This leads her to Manfred Powell who wants the key for himself and soon steals it with the help of a small army of mercenaries. If Lara is to stop him getting his hands on the device she will have to follow him to a temple in Cambodia, Venice then finally to a remote corner of Siberia.

If you are looking for something serious you will be a bit disappointed but if you want some good silly fun with plenty of action you could do a lot worse. The story is simple enough with no real surprises but it is told fairly well. Often in this sort of film there is a bit too much forced humour but thankfully this is played fairly straight. There is lots of action and this is rather good; given the films age the CGI still looks pretty decent. Angelina Jolie does an impressive job as our eponymous heroine; it isn't surprising that she went on to play more action leads. The rest of the cast is pretty solid too; notably Daniel Craig and Iain Glen. Having never played the video games I can't say how the character or story compares… possibly an advantage as I had no idea what Lara Croft 'should' be like. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting an hour and a half of silly action with little content that could be considered offensive.

In the movies there is good nonsense and bad nonsense. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is 100% good nonsense! It won't win any awards or bowl you over with textured and deep themes or performances, but what it will provide you with is a good looking well made slice of pure fun!

Angeline Jolie is wonderfully likeable as Lara, plus her English accent is flawless which further endears you to her. Red Dwarf's Chris Barrie pops up as Lara's butler and the two have genuine chemistry together when they are on screen. The film is very well directed by Simon West and it has a very polished sheen to it all plus the pacing is spot on, which for a game adaptation is rarer than hen's teeth.

Smashing good fun which is surprisingly well made and well performed too.

Highly recommended for a boozy Saturday in or a lazy Sunday on the couch.

All the planets of the solar system are going into planetary alignment once every 5,000 years. The Illuminati is searching for an ancient artifact to control time which is time sensitive.

Angelina Jolie is Lara Croft a rich adventurer based on the video game. She definitely has the build to be Lara Croft. And she has the presence and the strength of will. She is the best person for the job. The villains are forgettable. Jon Voight plays Lara's dead father. Daniel Craig plays her competitor/love interest Alex West.

The action is over the top thrilling stuff. But without the action, the story is prodding and stumbling. Let's face it. The story matters very little just like the video game. It's the action that's the most fun.