Tomb Raider - The Cradle Of Life (Widescreen)

Action, Adventure

Angelina Jolie	Lara Croft
Gerard Butler	Terry Sheridan
Chris Barrie	Hillary (as Christopher Barrie)
Ciaran Hinds
Djimon Hounsou	Kosa
Til Schweiger	Sean
Noah Taylor	Bryce
Ciarán Hinds	Jonathan Reiss
Simon Yam	Chen Lo
Terence Yin	Xien
Daniel Caltagirone	Nicholas Petraki

Director	Jan de Bont
Producer	Lawrence Gordon; Lloyd Levin
Writer	Steven E. de Souza; James V. Hart

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Cradle of Life is certainly better than its 2001 predecessor, but its appeal is mostly aimed at fans of the video games that inspired both movies. That pretty much leaves you with some fun but familiar action sequences, and the ever-alluring sight of Angelina Jolie (reprising her title role) as she swims, swings, kicks, shoots, flies, jet-skis, motorcycles, and free-falls her way toward saving the world, this time by making sure that a grimacing villain (Ciarán Hinds) doesn't open Pandora's Box (yes, the actual mythological object) and unleash a deadly plague that will "weed out" the global population. Exotic locations add to Jolie's own coolly erotic appeal, but we're left wondering if this franchise has anywhere else to go. --Jeff Shannon