Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life: Movie & DVD Review (2003)

(Originally published 2003)

In "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," Angelina Jolie comes out swinging again as Lara Croft, star of video games and countless boys' imaginations, the one person you want on your side should the world ever hang in the balance by the discovery of, oh, say, Pandora's Box.

The film, which Jan de Bont directed from a script by Dean Georgaris, is a vast improvement over its impenetrable 2001 predecessor. It may not capture the spirit of the Indiana Jones movies it emulates, but it does have its clever moments, a tighter focus and a greatly improved sense of humor.

If the energy of a new director and writer strengthens the film, then so does Jolie. Breathing life into a gathering of pixels best known for their concentration around Croft's breasts can't be easy, so it's to Jolie’s credit that she makes Croft so watchable in spite of a franchise that's only just now beginning to make her interesting.

In the film, Croft is busy crisscrossing the globe in spandex again, this time in an effort to stop an evil scientist named Reiss (Ciaran Hinds) from getting his hands on Pandora's Box--the origin of all life, we're frequently told--which is tucked deep within the mountains of Africa and protected by scores of warriors and tree-dwelling monsters.

To help her stop him, Croft reluctantly enlists the help of a former lover--the rakish Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler)—an untrustworthy chap whose passion for Lara is so great, it becomes a subplot, with Lara questioning whether she can trust him--and fall in love with him--amid all the unfolding chaos and growing sexual tension.

From the Greek isle of Santorini to the Great Wall of China, the skyscrapers of Hong Kong to the mountains of Kenya, and various stops in between, “The Cradle of Life” is a restless movie that travels for the sake of travel. It hangs its plot over the shoulders of several continents not because it makes sense to do so but because the views are great.

Nicely shot and reasonably brisk, with a handful of stunts that surpass anything in the first film, “The Cradle of Life” is a postfeminist punch and it’s better than most will expect.

Grade: B