Lara Croft: Tomb Raider- The Cradle of Life (Widescreen Special Collector's Edition)

The plot involves the race between Lara and a dealer of WMDs (how convenient) to find the Cradle of Life where hidden is the literal Pandora's Box. Opening the box will unleash a weapon far more powerful than anything man can create. The dealer wants it to sell to the highest bidder and Lara wants it to keep it hidden.

Unfortunately much of the action of the first is lost, primarily due to the sub plot involving Lara and an old flame, a mercenary she rescues from prison to help her on the quest. Not sure why they insist on giving Lara a love interest in every movie as it only serves to slow things down and kill the male fantasy.

More importantly, in both movies she's now found herself rescued by her male partner. Isn't SHE supposed to be the hero here? I think it really cheapens the character.

Anyway, the fact is Cradle of Life is just plain boring. I found myself nodding off on a few occasions. The Tomb Raider movies have been able to capture none of the fun and adventuring spirit of the video games, let alone Indiana Jones movies that they were modeled after.

You have exotic locales and secret tombs and such, but it all comes off very flat. I think for the franchise to survive they really need a new director.

While I only have a vague, passing familiarity with the video games, I can say, without a doubt, that this and the first movie make an enormously enjoyable leap from the pc screen to the silver screen.

Angelina Jolie's performance as Lara Croft, to include her impeccable British accent, is nothing less than stunning. I find it absolutely wonderful to see such a beautiful and agile actress take on the "James Bond" type role and handle it with such seeming ease. While these films won't win her any Oscars, they will indelibly mark her among the tops in action film stars. Gerard Butler's performance as Terry Sheridan makes another great performance by him after his leading role in "Attila."

Director, Jan de Bont deserves a great amount of praise for his direction of this box office smash, something of which he's quite familiar with having other directing credits to include "Speed" and "Twister." The score for this film greatly enhances the entire theatrical experience of the film.

The Premise:

Tomb Raider, Lara Croft finds herself on another mission to the save the world as she discovers an orb, which is the map to the Pandora's Box. Unfortunately for her, another tomb raider shows up when she discovers it and steals it from her, nearly killing her in the process. This other tomb raider happens to be working for Dr. Jonathan Reiss (Ciaran Hinds) who happens to be the worlds leading manufacturer of biological weapons.

Lara is soon visited by the British secret service, MI-6 and she finds herself on a mission to save the world, sanctioned by the Queen herself. All she needs now is a little help from an old "friend" in Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler), who happens to be a former SAS Major, turned mercenary and who is now stuck in a Russian prison. The British government agrees to secure his freedom to help her.

What follows from there is nothing less than another outstanding Lara Croft Tomb Raider action film that is highly enjoyable and I most certainly look forward to future endeavors in this film series. {ssintrepid}

Special Features:

- Commentary by director Jan de Bont
- Deleted/Alternate scenes
- Featurettes:
*Training
*Vehicles and Weapons
*Stunts
*Visual Effects
*Scoring
- Gerard Butler's Screen Test
-Music Videos:
*Korn "Did My Time"
*The Davey Brothers "Heart Go Faster"
-Original Theatrical Web Site Archive