SHE'S finally here. The award-winning video game Tomb Raider somersaults on to the big screen, featuring the exploits of buxom, all-kicking heroine Lara Croft, in the form of Angelina Jolie.

Lara Croft is the tough video game vixen who encapsulates the idea of the empowered woman. She also has the kind of voluptuous curves and body hugging outfits loved by devotees of the Tomb Raider games. In short, she's the ultimate cyber-babe - and the gorgeous Jolie fits the part perfectly.

It might seem odd that an actress renowned for doing dark edgy roles like her Oscar-winning part in Girl, Interrupted would chose to do a summer action blockbuster.

But that would be to miss the point. Director Simon West doesn't think anyone but Jolie could have done the role - it's a bit like finding Sean Connery in 1962 for James Bond.

If Tomb Raider proves the kind of worldwide box office hit it is likely to be, Jolie could be sitting on a very lucrative franchise.

Jolie loved the fact that Croft is both athletic and intelligent. "This is the first time I've happened to do something mainstream and have some fun with it.

"Lara has been raised in England but she's not uptight," explains Jolie. "She's wicked and wild with the same sense of freedom of an Indiana Jones. She's completely sensual, free and primitive. More than anything she is also athletic. I love everything she stands for."

The fact that Lara can slug it out with a man appealed to Jolie. "She's an empowered woman, it was just so much fun doing it. We gave her the things that make her Lara."

Fans of the Tomb Raider games will no doubt flock to the multiplexes to marvel at their heroine in the flesh. The film's success is assured - and a sequel is inevitable.