The newest float in the summer sequel parade belongs to Lara Croft, the swashbuckling archaeologist and British aristocrat who rose to digital stardom as the protagonist of a pioneering video game.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life emerges as just one more formulaic action film as the title character bounces around the globe in a deadly treasure hunt. The object of her search is nothing less than the original Pandora's Box, which is revealed to be some sort of intergalactic surprise package that was once the source of all life on earth but now contains the very essence of death and evil.
That's exactly the sort of weapon of mass destruction that every conscientious dictator yearns for, and the film's principal villain, a renegade biochemist played with hammy elan by Ciaran Hinds, has assembled a group of bidders who include Asian despots, Serbian war criminals and inscrutable German businessmen.
PHOTO: PARAMOUNT
Lara Croft's record on preserving important historical sites ranks with that of the Taliban; the new film finds her destroying both a long-lost Greek temple and a Chinese emperor's tomb in her quest. But she does cut a dashing figure in her silver Spandex action suit. As filled out by the sculptural beauty of Angelina Jolie, that silver suit seems to lie at the center of the game's adolescent appeal: it idealizes the female form while making it completely inaccessible, a kind of full-body chastity belt that both arouses and reassures.
Lara does have a romantic interest in the new film: an adventurer of dubious morals named Terry Sheridan, played by the up-and-coming Scottish actor Gerard Butler (who is to play the Phantom of the Opera in Joel Schumacher's forthcoming film of the musical). Lara reluctantly teams up with Terry, knowing that only he has the skills and ruthlessness to get the job done. But then there is the matter of their five-month, not-quite-extinguished love affair -- unfinished business that is meant to add an edge of tension to the proceedings but mainly serves as the occasion to revive such time-honored lines as "We're two of a kind, you and I."
As directed by Jan De Bont, whose 1994 Speed helped define the summer action blockbuster, Lara Croft lopes from one action set-piece to the next without developing any real rhythm or drive. Too many of the stunts are too obviously digitally enhanced to carry much sense of danger, though there is one breathtaking moment when Lara and Terry (or rather, their stunt doubles) jump from the top of a Hong Kong office tower wearing what seem to be scuba suits equipped with tiny wings. As they sail out over the harbor, Lara Croft briefly achieves the thrill and grandeur of genuine adventure.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built