I’m going to see Tomb Raider tonight. As such, I thought I’d consider the previous attempts at making this a film franchise. I, of course, had heard of Lara Croft before the movies but can honestly say I’ve never played the games so I went into these films somewhat blind to the history.

37 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft versus the Illuminati to save the world and, I think, her father maybe... I’m not sure. I liked this way back when but it doesn’t hold up. The direction and editing is far too kinetic and distracting to the point it is hard to see what is going on sometimes. Daniel Craig is in this one. I think it was an origin story.

38 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

Angelina Jolie returns as Lara Croft in this slightly better sequel and this time she’s battling... bad guys to keep them from finding Pandora’s Box. It is better than the last one but still not really moving beyond trying to be Indiana Jones, she is even approached by MI-6 to go on a mission. Gerard Butler shows up. The action scenes were better but I was not all that engaged.

-all photos via IMDb.com.