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Movie: Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life Director: Jan de Bont Actors: Angelina Jolie, Gerald Butler, Ciaran Hinds, Simon Yam, Djimon Hounsou. |
Angelina Jolie pulled out her guns again, put on some tight pants and got ready to kick some ass in a new Lara Croft adventure. I've never played the video game but I thought Angelina Jolie was a perfect choice the play the cyber babe. I was looking forward when the first movie was released with Simon West as director, this movie could be a fun ride. Unfortunately Tomb Raider was a big let down after I saw it. It was a heartless compilation of action sequences.
The trailer for Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life (this year's movie with the longest title) looked cool and I believed that this one could be that fun ride the first movie couldn't provide. What really got my hopes up was the director Jan de Bont, born in my country Holland, who worked with Paul Verhoeven as cinematographer on classic Dutch movies like Turkish Delight. Jan de Bont decided to move to Hollywood and became a successful D.O.P. known for his unique style. Black Rain, Basic Instinct, Lethal Weapon 3, great movies with great visuals by de Bont. His first gig as a director is still one of the coolest action movies ever, a nonstop thrill ride called Speed. Now you know why I had to see Tomb Raider 2 on opening day.
The story in a nutshell:
Lara Croft is being approached by MI6 to find Pandora's box, an ancient object that will unleash hell on earth when it's opened. Evil bio-terrorist Jonathan Reiss (Ciaran Hinds) is also searching for this box in order to make some money, kill a few, rule the world etc., etc. Lara Croft accepts the mission but requires the help of former agent and ex-boyfriend Terry Sheridan (Gerald Butler). A race against time begins to find the mysterious box.
The movie opens promising, the introduction of Lara Croft (in bikini) on a Jet Ski, the slick appearance of Tomb Raider title accompanied by score of Alan Silvestri. Man, this is going to be a great adventure movie with exotic locations. Let the fun begin...but after the first action sequence I knew the sequel will follow the same predictable path of its predecessor. Angelina Jolie is still great and so beautiful to look at but that's all there is. Jolie did give here character heart, more emotions but when this happens it's already too late cause we've already reached the end of the movie. Most of its failure can be traced back to the lousy script. Veteran writers Steve E. de Souza (Die Hard, 48 hrs.) and James v. Hart (Hook) created a great concept with Pandora's box but the development of the story is just too simple and predictable. At one point the movie completely lost my attention, I was thinking about the cool Matrix Revolutions trailer that I saw before Lara made her entrance. This is a major problem, you didn't get involved and you just don't care what happens to the characters.
Jan de Bont made the same mistake as director Simon West and piled up a series of boring or so-so action sequences that just doesn't make sense. I kept wondering what the movie would be like when Harrison Ford would play the part of Lara. Indy swinging his whip, holding on to his hat while hanging on a cable above the streets of Hong Kong dodging bullets. The idea of the story is a perfect Indiana Jones adventure and of course Spielberg could make it work. I was convinced that my man Jan de Bont could deliver a great Lare Croft movie but unfortunately he didn't manage to get it right.
One positive note is that I really enjoyed seeing two actors, namely Simon Yam as Chinese gang leader Chen Lo and Djimon Hounsou as Lara's African guide Kosa. Yam has played in legendary Hong Kong movies Killer's Romance and Bullet in the Head. Hounsou is best known for his leading role in Amistad and played Maximus' friend in Gladiator.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life is a tiny bit better than the first but it still feels shallow and empty.
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Written by Reggy 10/08/03
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