Soldier of Misfortune

It’s got perhaps the most popular of video games as source material. It’s got a sought-after star as its marquee attraction. It’s got one of the longest and most convoluted writing credits in recent history. But what “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” has really got is, as the old song would have it, plenty of nothing.

Though it is busy enough and must have spent a fortune on computer-generated effects, “Tomb Raider” is 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.”

While on the surface “Tomb Raider” may sound indistinguishable from “The Mummy Returns,” the differences, should anyone want to compare them (kids, don’t try this at home), are considerable. Though “Mummy” is not going to be on many 10 best lists, its liveliness, pacing and pervasive sense of fun are well beyond what “Tomb Raider” can manage.

Simon West, a man whose previous “Con Air” and “The General’s Daughter” have the distinction of being lamentable in completely different ways, is the director here and the man probably responsible for many of the questionable choices the film makes.

For one thing, the action editing on “Tomb Raider” is much too quick and rapid, making it difficult to get the full effect of what probably were elaborately staged fight sequences. It’s a measure of how much the film outsmarts itself that its most visually involving scene is not an action one but an impressive midair training sequence on rubberized ropes referred to as the bungee ballet.

And though it did location work in distant parts of the world, from Cambodia’s Angkor Wat (filmed for the first time since 1964’s “Lord Jim”) and the snowy vastness of Iceland, neither locale is used effectively. In fact, except for random snippets, for all we see of Iceland the crew might as well have camped out where the Coen brothers shot “Fargo.”

West is also mentioned in the film’s writing credit, a document more complex and potentially interesting than anything that appears on screen: story by Sara B. Cooper and Mike Werb & Michael Colleary, adaptation by Simon West, screenplay by Patrick Massett & John Zinman based on the Eidos Interactive game series developed by Core Design.

Perhaps because he asked for and didn’t get a full-on credit, West has been publicly dismissive of the writing process. “It’s easy,” he told Premiere magazine, “to throw a bunch of ideas down on a sheet of paper.” Well, if you don’t take the time to make the ideas involving and are oblivious to the twaddle your characters say, you probably do think the process is a snap.

The story, such as it is, involves the attempt of a shadowy group called the Illuminati to seize the opportunity of a once-in-5,000-years planetary alignment to reunite the two hidden halves of something called the Triangle of Light. Once whole, this ancient object gives the bearer the godlike power to control time and even undo the past.

Being armchair types, the Illuminati have hired the nasty, dressed-in-black Manfred Powell (Iain Glen) to do the actual triangle uniting. Wouldn’t you know it that Lara Croft just happens to have, courtesy of her father, the late, seen-only-in-flashbacks Lord Croft (Jolie’s real-life dad, Jon Voight), the very mechanism Powell needs to do the deed.

Given to wearing tight tops and short shorts, Lara Croft resides chastely in one of Britain’s stately homes with a live-in butler and a house nerd (“Shine’s” Noah Taylor). Nominally a photojournalist, she’s in reality a Modesty Blaise-type freelance adventuress with a flirtatious but disapproving relationship with mercenary fellow raider Alex West (Daniel Craig).

With the trademark long braid and weapons strapped to either hip, Jolie certainly looks as much like Croft as it is possible for a human to resemble a computer-generated image. Spunkiness personified and always unfazed, Jolie is a game performer who does as much as she can with a cartoon role. If this elaborate film hasn’t been able to find much of interest for her to do, we can always hope (or perhaps one should say fear) that a sequel will give it one more try.

* MPAA rating: PG-13, for action violence and some sensuality. Times guidelines: The violence is of the video game variety--lots of shooting, little blood.

‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’

Angelina Jolie: Lara Croft

Jon Voight: Lord Croft

Iain Glen: Manfred Powell

Noah Taylor: Bryce

Daniel Craig: Alex West

Paramount Pictures and Mutual Film Co. present a Lawrence Gordon production, in association with Eidos Interactive Limited, released by Paramount. Director Simon West. Producer Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Colin Wilson. Executive producers Jeremy Heath-Smith. Screenplay by Patrick Massett & John Zinman, adaptation by Simon West, story by Sara B. Cooper and Mike Werb & Michael Colleary, based on the Eidos Interactive game series developed by Core Design. Cinematographer Peter Menzies Jr. Editor Dallas S. Puett, Glen Scantlebury. Costume designer Lindy Hemming. Music Graeme Revell. Production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli. Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes.

In general release.