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LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER:
THE CRADLE OF LIFE review by Joseph B. Mauceri
REVIEW:
THE CRADLE OF LIFE begins with an opening sequence that unsuccessfully
attempts to mimic a James Bond introduction. The filmmakers try
hard to make this sequel even bigger and better than the original.
In some respects it is, but the opening sequences is indicative
of the rest of the movie. That should give you a clue as to the
quality of the rest of the film. I don¹t believe the screenwriters have a clue as to the mythology
behind Pandora¹s box. They¹ve come up with this fabrication of the
classic myth that makes it sound like the Arc of the Covenant from
³Raiders of the Lost Arc.² Pandora¹s box was never a weapon. Then
they have this biological weapons dealer who believes he can create
an antidote to it. Is he insane, or does he know something that
we don¹t? The rest of the story is a tired formula that has as much
excitement as a flat bottle of club soda. There is obviously nothing
here that the people who made the game such a successful franchise
could figure out or would find the least bit surprising. Angelian Jolie is the embodiment of Lara Croft. She¹s got the
hustle and the muscle to sell it. She¹s proven she is a great actress.
Jolie can go from doing roles like ³Cyborg 2² to her critically
acclaimed performance in ³Girl, Interrupted,² and a wide variety
of comedies and dramas in between. Unfortunately, Lara Croft is
the only character in this film and the rest of the cast is literally
a supporting cast. The story is so thin that these secondary characters
are simply stereotypes. That shortcoming leads to a lack of jeopardy
and peril in the plot. Case in point, Croft mentions the death of
her good friend at the hands of the Chinese gang but quickly gets
over it. If she doesn¹t care, why should the audience? When you
don¹t care, you basically have an unmemorable film. The movie tries to fill the gaps in the plot and character
development with special effect sequences. De Bont is skilled at
getting the footage he needs to sell the action and stunts, but
they just don¹t have that ³Oooo² and ³Ahhh² quality. A fellow critic
explained it by saying, ³Jan De Bont is basically a hack, but he
hacks at a higher level than most of the other directors in his
category.² A good friend and colleague wrote a screenplay titled ³Pandora¹s Box² long before they announced the second Lara Croft film. When he heard about the CRADLE OF LIFE he was upset and feared it would kill his idea. He has nothing to worry about. ³Raiders of the Lost Arc² did the Arc of the Covenant theme so well that any other film that would try to use it would ultimately be compared to that film. TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE is so unmemorable that I don¹t think anyone reading my friend¹s script will remember that the idea was used before. I know that if I was Greek, I might be offended by their brazen misuse of the ³Pandora¹s Box² mythology. For the TOMB RADIER fans, don¹t fret! There is a new game, ³The Angel of Darkness.² EIDOS sent me a review copy. I haven¹t finished it yet, but so far it¹s lots of fun! OFFICIAL
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