Putting dispositions aside, director Simon West of the upcoming movie Tomb Raider says that Lara Croft (the one and only), played by Angelina Jolie, is more than simply a female James Bond. "Everyone would want to be her, or have her as their girlfriend," West said. And yeah, I'd probably like having her as my girlfriend who can enslave me all she wants (if you know what I mean). West continues to say, "But we're not constrained like Bond, because this is the first one."

West added, "That's what appealed to me. It was a totally open brief. We're also not constrained by reality. I've set certain rules up in the film that, when you're above ground, everything has to be pretty much plausible. We push it every now and again, as there is weird phenomena in the world. But when we go underground, into the tombs, we change the rules completely. The gloves are off, and almost anything can happen. You can't do that with Bond. There's a very surreal element to Tomb Raider."

West said Tomb Raider is the first of three planned films. Looks like the whole trilogy deal is quite popular these days. The first Tomb Raider, based on the Eidos video game, would have a "New Age mysticism" to it, West said. "The next [movie] might be totally scientifically based," he added. "Everyone's signed on for three pictures. I have the choice to do them if I want. I don't have to, but I'm very protective of it, because I've created the world and the people in it. At the moment, it feels hard to let someone else come in and mess around with it, or screw it up completely. But that's before I've made it. Who knows? If you choose the right director, the sequel might even be better."

Yes dammit, those sequels better be done right. Otherwise I'm going to have to start killing some folks in Hollywood.