Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

The first film was a waste of time, but does Lara Croft's second outing suffer as bad? Our verdict, in the full review.

Being both an avid movie-goer and gamer, the concept of bringing video game heroes to the big screen is somewhat lost on me: surely detaching yourself from the character is a step down from the overall experience, leaving you as a bystander to what is essentially the directors efforts at playing a game. Thing is, I doubt many Directors have played video games, so just like your friend who's never picked up a pad in his life, watching him struggle through the myriad of puzzles, hell, even managing to get his head around the controls is tantamount to torture. That pretty much sums up the consensus opinion of the first Tomb Raider movie, so is a sequel bound to the same pitfalls as the original? Here's Kikizo's opinion.

With Lara Croft being a well-established icon in the new millennium, it was arguably only a matter of time before the film market saw Hollywood take the franchise to a new audience. With the original Tomb Raider hailed a commercial success by all, it nevertheless received a critical mauling from all quarters, most surprisingly from the very demograph that its producers had banked on: the gamers. After successive failures tracing as far back as the god-awful Mario Bros, Tomb Raider perpetuated the cycle, being formulaic and downright predictable. Of course, one thing nobody could argue with was the casting of our protagonist, as only the most beautiful women in Hollywood would do.

Angelina Jolie, best remembered for her parts in Girl, Interrupted and Gone in 60 Seconds brought the Lara Croft character to life, instantly making the character her own. So with the sequel being helmed by a new director with films like Speed and Twister to his name, it was with baited breathe that I indulged the Cradle of Life. Within the first few minutes of Lara's introduction, it was made abundantly clear that this sequel's focus was very much on aesthetics - only time would tell if any room had been made for plot or execution.

Our story begins with a Greek fishing patrol awaiting the arrival of their client somewhere offshore. Soon after Lara has made her grand entrance, she divulges the nature of their mission: below them in the very sea they lay afloat on is a long lost temple built by Alexander the great. Within this temple lay all the riches the great leader had acquired during his long and glorious reign. Of course, on making it to the underwater ruins, the real intent of Lara's expedition becomes clear: a key. But a key to what? The nature of the key is temporarily put on hold as Lara's deadly rivals storm the temple and take the prized possession, with the intent of selling it off to the highest bidder, in this case our villain Jonathan Reiss. With the films villain in place, it is up to him to divulge the nature of the Key, whilst also demonstrating the ruthlessness that abetted him in acquiring the item.

After making a daring escape clamped to the fin of a shark, Lara is hell-bent on retrieving the key, revealed to be connected with mythology's own Pandora's Box. So ensues nearly 2 hours of set pieces in various gorgeous locales, from the Great Wall of China to atop the peak of Killimanjaro in Africa.

Locales aside, this movie is gorgeous. From the cinematography to the stunts, from the lead actress to the sheer scope of some of the set pieces, your eyes will water with delight, as the intensity is cranked up well beyond Jolie's digitised counterpart. Scenes involving Lara and her accomplice descending down a rope with guns blazing are well executed, though you'll no doubt be wondering how their hands felt after the ordeal. Other set pieces stretch the imagination even further, combining some awe-inspiring stunts with well-directed gunfights and sumptuous if not slightly blatant 'Lara time'. Even blazing through the Great Wall of China atop a motorcycle isn't beyond the imagination of this film

From that you'd be forgiven for thinking that director Jan de Bont has turned round the fortunes of this already breathless franchise with this effort. Unfortunately, despite having directed two of Hollywood's finest moments in the past decade, he was also responsible for The Haunting and the tragic Speed 2: Cruise Control. With these two films being his most recent, the Cradle of Life will only prove to be another burden to shoulder.

The problem inherent in all game to big screen translations is that removing player interactivity essentially breaks the bond the audience has with the character. Were this player/Lara relationship not tenuous enough, we also have to consider the way in which the script throws Lara into endless danger, the result seeing Lara emerge victorious with barely a scratch on her. No fear, no pain and no empathy, unlike her digitised self who is far more open to the concept of dying.

Unfortunately, this is not the key to this sequels downfall. It won't escape seasoned moviegoers attention that Tomb Raider borrows heavily from Indiana Jones and James Bond. With both franchises running out of steam, particularly the latter judging by the last effort, it seems particularly foolish to derive so much of the Cradle of Life's content from these staid and lifeless series of films. Even with a rumoured 4th Indiana Jones in the pipeline, it won't be able to achieve anything more than what Tomb Raider has already attempted.

So thank god for Angelina Jolie. The Tomb Raider franchise has one thing going for it and that is Jolie's delightful, unashamedly sensual portrayal of the coolest women alive. Jolie's textured and velvety British accent, willingness to throw herself into danger and her sheer dominance over everyone and everything in the film mean that Jolie is the only element worth retaining in the entire picture. Indeed, on further considering the state of the tomb raider franchise as a whole, it occurred to me that both series saving graces would be their protagonist. With the recent console instalment of Lara being a grandiose disappointment, one could only wonder whether it was time for Jolie to get digitised and take on the role via our consoles. With all criticism aside, take stock in the fact Angelina Jolie IS Lara Croft. Now we just need a story that will do her talent justice.

Jamie Thomson
Film Critic, Kikizo Movies