Summer Cinema: ‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life’
Angelina Jolie’s most recent foray into the world of archeology may be slightly better than her first excursion, but it is still nothing to get excited about.
Jolie reprises her role as Lara Croft in “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.” In this new rendition, Lara and friends have discovered an ancient temple of Alexander the Great’s in the ocean off the coast of Greece. Among other treasures it includes an orb that will lead to the cradle of life—where all life began. There is the box life sprung from. The box also has the power to destroy as well as create, and is known as Pandora’s Box.
Unfortunately, the orb is stolen by Chinese profiteers who are going to sell it to Jonathan Reiss (Ciaran Hinds), a Nobel prize winner turned terrorist to hopes to use the box as the newest form of bioterrorism.
Croft enlists the aid of ex-military man Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler) in order to retrieve the orb and keep Reiss from getting his hands on the box. Their whirlwind of adventures takes them from China to Africa, but the exotic locations just don’t make up for the lack of character development and plot.
Besides Croft and Sheridan, the rest of the cast was there to shoot or be shot at. They had no other purpose in the story. Even Croft’s quirky butler and computer guru were relegated to being kidnapped instead of the witty comebacks and dialogue they enjoyed in the first film.
The plot is nothing new, and instead of staying true to the video games the films are based on, they revel in high-flying stunts and long gun battles. These so-called estrogen-powered Indiana Jones adventures will never live up to the original. Either way we are in a no-win scenario. Maybe that is why the film is flopping at the box office.
The producers of these films need to find a niche for Croft and her archeological adventures. Once that place is found, they need to hire scriptwriters who really have a feel for Croft’s character and can give her a story to really let herself shine. Now Jolie is the perfect Croft, but even the best actress can’t shine without good material.
As for the chemistry between Jolie and Butler, it was there, but it wasn’t anything special. One of the main driving forces of the story (if we can call it that) was the supposed sexual tension between the two. If you call pointless kissing and forced heavy breathing tension, then I guess it was there. How about in the next film (if there is one) let’s find a costar for Jolie who can generate some real emotion.
This is definitely a film to miss this summer. “Cradle of Life” deserves to remain buried in obscurity.
Grade: C