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

Adventuress Lara Croft goes on a quest to save the mythical Pandora's Box before an evil scientist and a recruits a former mercenary to assist her.

Director:

Jan de Bont

Writers:

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

Stars:

Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Jonny Coyne	...	Gus Petraki (as Jonathan Coyne)
Robert Cavanah	...	MI6 Agent Stevens
Ronan Vibert	...	MI6 Agent Calloway
Lenny Juma	...	Village Leader

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...

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Plot Keywords:

orb | pandoras box | helicopter chase | african tribe | archeologist | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence and some sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount

Country:

USA Germany Japan UK

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

25 July 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tomb Raider 2

Filming Locations:

Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Box Office

Budget:

$95,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$828,217 (Italy) (24 October 2003)

Gross:

$65,653,758 (USA) (7 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Mutual Film Company, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Jonathan Reiss exposes his private jet passengers to a form of Ebola. The "antidote" is a clear capsule with small black pills in it. In reality, this is a herbal medicine made in China and is a cure for an upset stomach.

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Goofs

When Lara shoots the computers in Reiss' lab, she only shoots the monitors. All this does is stop displaying what the computer is doing. Many say, that a knowledgeable woman like Lara should know to shoot the processor, not the monitor. However, later Reiss talks about keeping Lara alive as long as they know the computer finishes its translation; Lara only tried to delay Reiss, not to destroy the process (she couldn't do that anyways, since the computer boxes are not visible, and even if they are accessible to shoot, destroying the processors would take more time and effort than Lara had). We even see one monitor unharmed and showing the process bar.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, the names rolling through the center are highlighted.

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Connections

Edited into Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Lab Scene"
Written and Produced by Craig Armstrong

User Reviews

goofball action film

Angelina Jolie returns as a distaff Indiana Jones in "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life," an action/adventure film (based on a video game character) that is just goofy enough and inane enough to be almost entertaining.

In this follow-up adventure - which is designed to give historians and social studies teachers a severe case of the heebie-jeebies - Lara, the world-famous archaeologist and adventurist, finds evidence that the mythical Pandora's Box is really no myth at all, but rather an actual object loaded with enough plague and pestilence to wipe the entire human race off the face of the planet. It lies buried somewhere, hidden by Alexander the Great in the 4th Century B.C. when he discovered how virulent and deadly the contents of the box really were. Now, twenty-four centuries later, Lara has to try and prevent an evil billionaire capitalist from locating the container, prying open the lid, and bringing an end to civilization as we know it.

Though the storyline is clearly not one to be conjured with, all that really matters in a movie such as this one is that the action move quickly and the stunts be sufficiently enterprising to engage the audience. Credibility is the last prerequisite in a Lara Croft adventure, as evidenced by the fact that if Lara isn't parachuting smack dab onto the deck of a ship or into the passenger seat of a moving jeep, she's hitching a ride on the back of a great white shark and riding it to safety. Ah well, it's all in good fun, I suppose, and Jolie not only looks stunning in all the outfits she's been given to wear, but seems to be having a fine time playing along with the joke.

The ending is inevitably anticlimactic, but viewers can have a pretty good time getting there at least.