Review:
Fresh of the success of the first Tomb Raider movie, Angelina Jolie returns in the sequel promising a more grandeur plot, more special effects and even bigger stunts. In the process the movie loses a little bit of its luster and sinks to the bottom of the abyss in the Summer of Sequels. The first Lara Croft flick captivated audiences with a somewhat original storyline (based off a popular Eidos Interactive videogame) and archaeological plotline which was big at the time (Mummy Returns and the Scorpion King). 

Adding moving statues, the mythical time machine, suave villain, and more importantly adding a personality to a videogame character; the movie found an audience with men as well as young women. The second movie had big expectations and an opportunity for Paramount Pictures to create a long-living franchise, but it falls short and it's really quite sad.

The first movie went onto gross over $250 million dollars in box offices world wide, mostly because it gave Lara Croft a face (Angelina Jolie), personality, and a human touch (father-daughter storyline). The sequel therefore had big shoes to fill but a great deal of potential due to the dead on casting of Angelina Jolie. Unfortunately the script for this movie never really gave it a chance. The stunts in the first movie (robot scene and first scene when enemy breaks into her house) were much better than the sequel. Secondly, Angelina Jolie all of a sudden becomes a James Bond-like character which she wasn't before. The first movie cast Angelina as a more humane character (caring about father and her friend/adversary), but in the second movie Jolie is simply using people to get what they want. I mean if you have a formula that works, why change it. You don't see the James Bond franchise changing their formula around (hot sophisticated male lead, only cares about the mission, women with kinky names as sidekicks, etc)

Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is not by far the worst movie of the summer (Gigli probably will be), but it is by far the most disappointing movie to come out this summer.  Paramount might blame the poor performance on the Eidos Interactive videogame (Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness), but they should've known better then to accept this subpar script and ruin a franchise which had such potential. It's the lead characters personality, STUPID. People see the Indiana Jones trilogy over and over again because the scripts and Harrison Ford gave the character a great personality.

Cast:
Angelina Jolie (as Lara Croft)
Gerard Butler (as Terry Sheridan)
Ciarán Hinds (as Jonathan Reiss)

Directed By: Jan de Bont
Written By: Steven E. de Souza & James V. Hart
Produced By: Paramount Pictures

Release Date (US): July 21, 2003

Length of Movie: 2h 10min

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for action violence and some sensuality.

Filming Locations: London (England), Kenya, Hong Kong (China), Greece, Wales (UK).

Budget: $90,000,000

Opening Weekend: $21,783,641