Lara Croft Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (Widescreen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Really disappointed
Review: I realize you shouldn't expect much from a video game remake, but good gravy.
The dialogue is flat and rarely funny or interesting. The plot is completely incomphrehensible. The villian's motivation makes no sense. I don't want to blow the ending for you. But a key character who is likable from the beginning has a two-second morality meltdown and becomes a one-dimensional baddie for no other reason than Lara has commitment issues.
If you're thinking of buying this one, just go out and get another version of the video game. You'll be happier.

Rating:
Summary: Lara Croft is gorgeous...
Review: ...but the movie falls short of my expectations. I know, it's hard to make a sequel that is as good as the original, but I can hope for it.

Rating:
Summary: Pleasantly Surprised
Review: I finally saw this movie just recently, mostly because of Gerard Butler. I had hesitated because I can't stand that a female action hero has to wear skin-tight clothing everywhere she goes.

I was pleasantly surprised by the plot and the action. It was an enjoyable movie. Not going to change your life or anything, but good pure entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: Plot kills 2 stars
Review: Again, like the first one, the plot is so/so, the movie however is good, again it is for video game fans, adults might frown but teenagers will get a kick out of it. The action sequences in the end of the movie seem to move too slow. The movie is moving fast through scenes. The only problem i had with the sequel, was that they used too much make up on Angelina Jolie, because in the first movie, she had more a action girl look, you know a little rough up in the face, and Angelina Jolie has kind of baggy eyes. In the sequel, they seem to use so much make up to smooth Angelina's face. Again Angelina is doing most of her stunts, that's what make Angelina so great in the movie, fans appreciate that Angelina is giving so much effort. The movie is at perfect length, the action sequences are well placed, video game fans will like this high tech sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Uninspired sequel.
Review: I greatly enjoyed the first Tomb Raider movie and gave it 4 stars. But this movie i cannt recommend...

Laras old boyfriend, who has a very annoying accent, takes up way too much of the time and both of them never seemed to have much chemistry from the beginning.

And the action. What action?
The first movie had some tremendously fun action scenes while this one had one or two 'cool' parts and thats it. How many times can we really see Lara arrive or travel by skydiving/etc?

This movie is a very sub par action flick and it comes across very flat and dull in most parts. Stick with the first Toomb Raider if you want some decent adventure.

Rating:
Summary: 'I don't expect anything from an Englishwoman.'
Review: This turned out to be a pleasant surprise. More often than not film number two in an action series is somewhat lackluster. But somehow director Jan de Bont managed to work some magic, take a good story, some novel stunts and special effects and decent acting and actually create something that is actually an improvement over the original.

Take a glowing orb that Alexander the Great has hidden in an underwater temple and make it the key to an ancient box full of the worst diseases imaginable. Pit Lara Croft against a mad biologist who wants to unleash all of Pandora's ills on mankind. There you have the basic plot, which ricochets from Greece to China and Africa - not counting stops at Lara's mansion. Add people flying of the top of 1000 foot buildings, shooting upside down and joyriding sharks and you have the big picture.

This is all done quite well. Yes, theres a lot of spectacle, but there is just enough understatement to it that the impossible almost seems likely rather than engaging one's disbelief. In fact the only stunt I though was completely faked turned out to be totally real. In addition Angelina Jolie and Gerald Butler turn in very credible performances. Again, not enough for Academy Awards, but enough so that the characters develop some dimensionality. Film work is also excellent, embedding the viewer right in the action. Jan de Bont has a very good eye for scene setting as well.

Some good added features are present on the DVD as well. Jan de Bont's commentary and five good 'making of' features. This is simply a fun film, and now that it's down in price, just the thing for the action addict.

Rating:
Summary: A good movie for highlighting newcomer Gerard Butler
Review: With a slim, implausible plot, a horribly trite sound track and a kind of hokey B grade feel, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life should probably be called Lara Croft: Cradle of the stupid. But in all fairness, Cradle does have some fun moments - there are some terrific action/stunt scenes, some really sexy beefcake, and of course, the enigmatic Angelina Jolie who seems to be having a totally fine time traipsing around the world killing evil people. It's interesting that all the male hunks in this movie - from a couple of sexy Greek fisherman to Gerard Butler's beefy Terry Sheridan - play second fiddle to Jolie's Lara - she's the dominant, leading woman who always seems to be on top.

Lara Croft is a type of modern day, wealthy proto-feminist who revels in multi-tasking - she shoots, dives, and rides horses and motorcycles. She can climb, skydive, and fight with the toughest of men. In one particular scene she even uses a flimsy bamboo stick to vault onto a moving helicopter. And Lara does all this with such breezy, unexceptional ease. She journeys to ancient tombs beneath Santorini and to modern cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong, and then parachutes onto a plain in Kenya, Africa.

The story is pretty much just an excuse to tie the action sequences together. It begins with a volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini, which allows Croft access to a long-lost orb buried in the subterranean Luna Temple of Alexander the Great. The orb is a map to the fabled Pandora's Box which - according to a villainous bio-terrorist (an embarrassed looking Ciaran Hinds) - contains a world-wide destructive plague. For some unexplained reason, Chinese mercenaries are also after the artifact, so it's a race to discover where it's buried. Instead of working alone, Lara Croft springs a former boyfriend Terry (Butler) from a Kazakhstan prison and, together, they're off to China, Hong Kong, and then to Kenya, where beneath Mount Kilimanjaro, she's met by her African translator friend (Djimon Hounsou).

Fast paced with a budget that affords spectacular sets, The Cradle of Life roars along with high-speed motion. Angelina Jolie - complete with English accent - brings to the role a convincing physicality, although her line delivery is at times a little wooden. This movie is worth seeing just for the hunky Gerard Butler - he is going to have a big career in Hollywood. Cradle of Life certainly isn't going to light the cinematic fires anytime soon and yes, it is probably a monument to wasted star power, but fans of sexy, masculine beefcake are definitely going to enjoy this film, as there's certainly lots on show. Mike Leonard September 04.