Time: 118 Minutes
Age Rating: M
Cast:
Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft
Ciarán Hinds as Dr. Jonathan Reiss
Gerard Butler as Terry Sheridan
Chris Barrie as Hillary
Noah Taylor as Bryce
Djimon Hounsou as Kosa
Til Schweiger as Sean
Director: Jan de Bont

I actually enjoyed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; I wouldn’t call it a good movie, but it seemed to capture the spirit of the original Tomb Raider games, and it was fun to watch. I didn’t hear much about the sequel going in, except that it was notably worse than the first movie, and having seen it later, I understand why.

The first Tomb Raider movie was certainly silly, but the sequel takes things to the next level. It is really over the top, as in Lara Croft punching a shark and riding it to the surface levels of silly. I’m all for an (fittingly) incredibly goofy video game-esque action movie, but despite some of the levels of absurdity, it somehow manages to be dull. Like with the first movie; the writing is a mixed bag at best with a predictable story, but the pacing and tone made it entertaining. Cradle of Life’s plot drags in places and perhaps took itself too seriously, and overall just wasn’t as fun.

For all the movie’s flaws, Angelina Jolie is again good in the lead role of Lara Croft, and helps keep you involved with the movie even amongst its missteps. Other actors like Gerard Butler and Djimon Hounsou are fine in their parts, and Ciaran Hinds is wasted in a weak villain role.

The movie is directed by cinematographer Jan de Bont, and unfortunately his work here isn’t the best. The editing is poor and the CGI looks pretty bad, even looking worse than in the previous movie. Still, at least it looks pretty cool at times, and the over the top action is entertaining. 

While Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life still has the early 2000s action cheesiness, over the top action and Angelina Jolie, it’s considerably worse than its predecessor. It’s entertaining in parts, but not the whole. If you liked the first movie though, Cradle of Life is at least worth checking out.