Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)

Director:

Jan de Bont

Writers (WGA):

Dean Georgaris (screenplay)
Steven E. de Souza (story) ...

Release Date:

25 July 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

Lara Croft is on a quest to save Pandoras box.

Plot Keywords:

Orb | Pandoras Box | Machine Gun | Jet Ski | Mansion

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Angelina Jolie	...	Lara Croft
Gerard Butler	...	Terry Sheridan
Ciarán Hinds	...	Jonathan Reiss
Chris Barrie	...	Hillary (as Christopher Barrie)
Noah Taylor	...	Bryce
Djimon Hounsou	...	Kosa
Til Schweiger	...	Sean
Simon Yam	...	Chen Lo
Terence Yin	...	Xien
Daniel Caltagirone	...	Nicholas Petraki
Fabiano Martell	...	Jimmy Petraki
Jonathan Coyne	...	Gus Petraki
Robert Cavanah	...	MI6 Agent Stevens
Ronan Vibert	...	MI6 Agent Calloway
Lenny Juma	...	Village Leader

Also Known As:

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Die Wiege des Lebens (Germany)
Tomb Raider 2 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence and some sensuality.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA | Germany | Japan | UK

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (2003) | UK:12A (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39956) | Ireland:12 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:14A | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Initial trailers and publicity material credited the story to producer Lloyd Levin and production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli, as well as James V. Hart. However, just before the film was released the WGA decided to credit the story to Hart and Steven E. de Souza.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Lara claims that the Lunar Temple on Santorini was buried in a volcanic eruption around 333 BC. In fact, the eruption that destroyed most of Santorini has been dated to about 1645 BC.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jimmy Petraki: They found another one. There's going to be no treasure left by the time she gets here.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#30.1)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Tears From the Moon

Pretty Good, If All You Want Is A Brainless Action Movie

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is an improvement over the original as it delivers more action and adventure. Archaeologist and explorer extraordinaire, Lara Croft, journeys to a temple which has sunken underwater in search of lost treasures. During her expedition, Croft happens upon a sphere that contains the mythical Pandora's Box, only to have it stolen from her by Chen Lo, the leader of a Chinese crime syndicate. Chen Lo is in league with a bad guy named Reiss, who wants to use the priceless Box as a doomsday weapon. The plot sounds okay but the main reason someone would see this film is for the action scenes and Angelina Jolie. People just wanting those two things will probably enjoy this film. People that want a good story and better direction should skip this film. The action scenes are really cool and are done well. However, the story is weak and the film doesn't quite make sense at times either. I think the person that should be blamed is Jan de Bont. He is a terrible director and can't build up suspense very well. He did a bit better then Simon West but still the studio should have hired someone else. The acting is good not great but nothing horrible either. Angelina Jolie does a good job of playing Lara Croft and she is also very breathtaking in the film. Gerard Butler does a good job as well though sometimes his performance wasn't very interesting. The action scenes are really cool and are done well. Another problem I had with this film is that it gets boring at times. Having a lot of action doesn't mean its audience will be entertained. The movie's running time is 117 minutes which is a bit longer then the original. I think they could have cut the film down to about the same length as there some pointless scenes. If you hated the original then you should skip this film as the film is more of the same but it is more entertaining. As long as you don't try to notice too many of the mistakes in the film then you should enjoy it. If your looking for a serious action flick then just skip this. Rating 6.8/10