Dir.
Jan De Bont, 2003, UK/USA/Japan/Rest of the world, 130 mins
Cast:
Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Chris Barrie, Djimon Hounsou, Ciaran Hinds, Til Schweiger, Noah Taylor
The video-game vixen brought to the big screen in the first Tomb Raider film, Lara Croft returns in this sequel, The Cradle Of Life. Intrepid British archaeologist Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) has made perhaps the most important archaeological discovery in history. Croft travels across the world in hope of finding an ancient underwater temple called the Cradle of Life, which, as legend has it, is the resting place for Pandora's Box, an artifact mentioned in Greek mythology that can unleash hell upon the world if it falls into the wrong hands. In this case, those hands belong to Chen Lo, the leader of a Chinese crime syndicate. Recruited by British Intelligence to get the orb back, Lara recruits Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler), a British marine turned mercenary--and her former love interest--to help. The two embark on an adventure that spans continents in an attempt to regain the orb.
Facing her greatest challenges and dangers yet, Lara Croft shows off her physical prowess like never before. During this exciting instalment of her adventures, the daring tomb raider jet skies, rides horses, motorcycles and much more through such exotic locations as The Great Wall Of China, Hong Kong, Kenya, Greece and Africa as she searches for the infamous orb.
Back before game designers first built the buxom Lara Croft, the original concept was for a male hero but a busty heroine was decided upon for several reasons, including not wanting to be too much like Indiana Jones. However, Cradle Of Life is exactly like Raiders of the Lost Ark - archaeology experts racing across the globe to find an artefact of ancient mythology that can lay waste to civilization, all the time facing the natural and supernatural dangers that guard the final tomb.
Also, what makes any action flick work is not just the action but the humanity behind the characters. Part of the appeal of a true action flick is that the hero gets the holy tar beat out of him - and he just keeps going. This latest crop of girl power action films ignores this rule. Sure, the girls in Charlie's Angels got mad, but they weren't one step away from being crushed like Ripley in Aliens or Sarah Conner in the Terminator films. The same goes for Lara Croft in The Cradle of Life. Even in the final battle over life and death, the only injury she suffers is a slight scratch on the face. It's too much like a video game.
Nevertheless, Lara Croft is still a walking advertisement for 'girl power'. She's brilliant, athletic, courageous, and saucy. She flips jet skis, parachutes to safety from tall buildings, dives, rides horses -- nothing seems beyond her. Best of all, Lara is one of the good ones; she'll do whatever she must to keep the world safe. And that's good enough to make the film entertaining.
Shizana Arshad
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