Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
Country: US/GER/JAP/GB/HK
Technical: col/2.39:1 117m
Director: Jan de Bont
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, Noah Taylor
Synopsis:
Having located a precious orb in a submerged temple at Santorini, Lara is then robbed and nearly killed because an international arms dealer wants it to lead him to Pandora's Box, so that he can unleash pestilence on the world.
Review:
Yes, you read it right: Pandora's Box. Aside from the preposterous idea that it was hidden by Alexander the Great, this neglects the fact that the mythical box did not merely house death and disease, but also greed, lust, wrath and deceit, in other words many of the things we see brazenly on display from the off. This is a walkthrough sequel to the equally uninspiring Lara Croft Tomb Raider, with bullet-dodging action set pieces in China, Hong Kong and Africa during the course of which Miss Croft is captured no less than three times without her assailants once having the presence of mind to kill her when they have the chance. The supposed romantic tension between the principals never catches fire, in spite of plenty of tongue darting clinches, because the dialogue is so utterly rote and we are asked to take too much on trust, since anything else would slow the pace so much we would see the holes in the plot even more: the final location of the prize is given, rather unhelpfully to anyone not born in the United States, as 'Africa', before being narrowed down, somewhat mysteriously, to Kilimanjaro, itself surely an area of several hundred square kilometres! But let's not delude ourselves: all this could be forgiven if we were for one moment emotionally invested in anyone on screen.
Country: US/GER/JAP/GB/HK
Technical: col/2.39:1 117m
Director: Jan de Bont
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, Noah Taylor
Synopsis:
Having located a precious orb in a submerged temple at Santorini, Lara is then robbed and nearly killed because an international arms dealer wants it to lead him to Pandora's Box, so that he can unleash pestilence on the world.
Review:
Yes, you read it right: Pandora's Box. Aside from the preposterous idea that it was hidden by Alexander the Great, this neglects the fact that the mythical box did not merely house death and disease, but also greed, lust, wrath and deceit, in other words many of the things we see brazenly on display from the off. This is a walkthrough sequel to the equally uninspiring Lara Croft Tomb Raider, with bullet-dodging action set pieces in China, Hong Kong and Africa during the course of which Miss Croft is captured no less than three times without her assailants once having the presence of mind to kill her when they have the chance. The supposed romantic tension between the principals never catches fire, in spite of plenty of tongue darting clinches, because the dialogue is so utterly rote and we are asked to take too much on trust, since anything else would slow the pace so much we would see the holes in the plot even more: the final location of the prize is given, rather unhelpfully to anyone not born in the United States, as 'Africa', before being narrowed down, somewhat mysteriously, to Kilimanjaro, itself surely an area of several hundred square kilometres! But let's not delude ourselves: all this could be forgiven if we were for one moment emotionally invested in anyone on screen.
Country: US/GER/JAP/GB/HK
Technical: col/2.39:1 117m
Director: Jan de Bont
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, Noah Taylor
Synopsis:
Having located a precious orb in a submerged temple at Santorini, Lara is then robbed and nearly killed because an international arms dealer wants it to lead him to Pandora's Box, so that he can unleash pestilence on the world.
Review:
Yes, you read it right: Pandora's Box. Aside from the preposterous idea that it was hidden by Alexander the Great, this neglects the fact that the mythical box did not merely house death and disease, but also greed, lust, wrath and deceit, in other words many of the things we see brazenly on display from the off. This is a walkthrough sequel to the equally uninspiring Lara Croft Tomb Raider, with bullet-dodging action set pieces in China, Hong Kong and Africa during the course of which Miss Croft is captured no less than three times without her assailants once having the presence of mind to kill her when they have the chance. The supposed romantic tension between the principals never catches fire, in spite of plenty of tongue darting clinches, because the dialogue is so utterly rote and we are asked to take too much on trust, since anything else would slow the pace so much we would see the holes in the plot even more: the final location of the prize is given, rather unhelpfully to anyone not born in the United States, as 'Africa', before being narrowed down, somewhat mysteriously, to Kilimanjaro, itself surely an area of several hundred square kilometres! But let's not delude ourselves: all this could be forgiven if we were for one moment emotionally invested in anyone on screen.