Directed by:
Jan de BontScreenplay:
Dean GeorgarisCinematography:
David TattersallComposer:
Alan SilvestriCast:
Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, Chris Barrie, Noah Taylor, Robert Cavanah, Richard Ng, Simon Yam, Djimon Hounsou, Til Schweiger, Graham McTavish (more)VOD (4)
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In LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE, Pandora's Box is said to house the most unspeakable evil ever known, and it is hidden in Africa in an area known as "The Cradle Of Life." Now, it is up to Lara Croft to find the infamous box before it falls into the hands of a maniacal Nobel Prize-winning scientist (Hinds), who's intent on harnessing the evil power. Facing her greatest challenges yet, the intrepid tomb raider travels the world on a spectacular adventure that takes her to such exotic places as Hong Kong, Kenya, Tanzania, Greece and the Great Wall of China. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (6)
One would say that when artists presume to make a sequel to a failed film, they are doing so with the intention of coming up with some refreshing ideas and bringing some innovation. And yet compared to this sequel, the original Lara Croft: Tomb Raider looks like a magnificent and profound film. This is a total disaster that definitively sunk the potentially attractive character of Lara and in the process probably destroyed Chris Barrie's shot at a late Hollywood career. Complete nonsense with unremarkable actors (including Angelina Jolie), confusing action, and dreadful effects. Never again. Perhaps only in a remake.
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The film crew may have had a lot of fun travelling to various locations around the world, but the same cannot be said for the audience. After Twister, De Bonte shows nothing but creative stagnation. What can I say, the locations are attractive and Angela's role fits like a glove when everything else fails. The script is pathetic, the action is dull, the direction is inept, I didn't care what happened in the next few minutes, I didn't live with the main characters and that's too bad. The only thing that snapped me out of my lethargy was the mini-role of my favourite actor Djimon Hounsou, which is woefully inadequate for a two-hour film, admittedly. Overall, even the weak first Tomb Raider was better than this sequel. But The Cradle of Life has one thing that stands out, and that's probably the most embarrassing plot finale I've seen in years. That's why it was deservedly a commercial flop.
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Slightly more interesting characters than in the first movie, but maybe it's just the cast. The action is once again bad, with some surprisingly weird and unfinished cuts, but the scene with the shark was the most disappointing for me, it could have been extra cool, but in reality, it was shit. Then it just became too dragged out.
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Compared to the first movie, this is ever so slightly better, not in terms of quality, but entertainment. It certainly isn’t such sleep-making boredom as last time. The screenplay is even worse and dumber. However, the production design and directing have considerably improved. The result is spoiled by the movie being too long, and the “dialogs" and the scenes aren’t even up to B-movie quality. Particularly Lara versus the shark is an experience for connoisseurs who like falling off their seats with laughter at the expense of the creators (or was this a clever nod to the cult scene from Zombie Flesh Eaters?). Again it is Angelina Jolie who carries this picture on her shoulders, well supported by Chris Barrie. This second jab at becoming a second Indy fails again.
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Jan de Bont had a more colorful screenplay for the first film, with more exotic locations and a more spectacular climax, but he didn’t shine as a director any more than Simon West did with The Cradle of Life. West’s action is half-baked, boring and lifeless, like a straight-to-video B-movie. Though the sequel is half a star better than the formless first Tomb Raider, it still no better than average. The final verdict remains the same: If there is any reason to see this film, it’s Angelina Jolie, who gets sexier by the day.
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