Lara Croft Tomb Raider - The Cradle Of Life (2003)
Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

"Thumbs Up! Better than the first. It's fun!"-Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roeper

Laura Croft is back in action and faces her most perilous mission. To recover what ancient civilization believed to be the essence of all evil, Pandora’s Box. She must travel the globe, from Greece to Hong Kong to Kenya and beyond to get to the box before it is found by a maniacal scientist whose plan it is to use it for mass annihilation.

For this adventure Laura recruits her ex-partner, Terry Sheridan, a dangerous mercenary who has previously betrayed Laura and their country. She knows he's the best for the mission, but can she trust him again?

Join her as she races through furious hand-to-hand battles, blazing shoot-outs and breathtaking sky-diving escapes to try to save the ancient artifact.....and mankind’s future.

Storyline: Intrepid British archaeologist Lara Croft has made perhaps the most important archaeological discovery in history: an orb that leads to the mythical Pandora's Box. Unfortunately, the orb falls into the hands of Jonathan Reiss, an evil scientist who deals in killer viruses and hopes to sell the secrets of the box as the ultimate weapon. Recruited by British Intelligence to get the orb back from Reiss, Lara recruits Terry Sheridan, 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... Written by Gavin Nelson

User Comment: Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Cradle of Life is certainly better than its 2001 predecessor, but its appeal is mostly aimed at fans of the video games that inspired both movies. That pretty much leaves you with some fun but familiar action sequences, and the ever-alluring sight of Angelina Jolie (reprising her title role) as she swims, swings, kicks, shoots, flies, jet-skis, motorcycles, and free-falls her way toward saving the world, this time by making sure that a grimacing villain (Ciarán Hinds) doesn't open Pandora's Box (yes, the actual mythological object) and unleash a deadly plague that will "weed out" the global population. Exotic locations add to Jolie's own coolly erotic appeal, but we're left wondering if this franchise has anywhere else to go.
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User Comment: unbrokenmetal Hamburg, Germany • Two weeks after I watched this movie, I went back to the cinema to watch it again. This rarely happens to me. No, not because the kind of movies I like won't be running three weeks ;-). It is an effect I might describe as 'Wow, did this all really happen? Or was it just my imagination?`. 'Cradle of Life' has got a lot of things that I missed in the 1st Lara Croft movie: needle-sharp sarcastic one-liners in the dialogue, a convincing brutal villain you love to hate (instead of that gentlemen's club kind of secret order), more realistic fights (cut her and she bleeds), straight ahead action (no sweet 'I remember Daddy' flashbacks this time), and last not least sexier costumes for the one and only Angelina Jolie. That push-up bra and short pants from the 1st movie looked ridiculous compared to the skin-tight silver diving suit she got this time. As far as I heard, La Jolie asked to have a word with the director about the wardrobe before she signed for part two, and what a wise woman she is... Mind you, Angelina also gets a few more opportunities for using her acting abilities, like her desperation when the warriors of the African tribe are running into the machine gun fire, she cries to stop and no-one hears. Or the difficult relationship between Lara Croft and Terry Sheridan, ranging from love to open mistrust. Besides, I always say the difference between a good movie and a great movie is that a great movie gives you pictures you'll keep in your mind forever! Will you ever forget the duel between Angelina and Simon Yam among the Chinese statues? Lara asking the shark for a ride? The spectacular jump off the skyscraper? I enjoyed every minute of it!

Summary: I watched 'Cradle of Life' twice and start loving it

--- JOYA ---

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