In the second instalment of the Tomb Raider films, Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) is put on a case by M15 to track down Pandora’s Box. If opened it will supposedly release a deadly plague, possibly causing the deaths of millions of people around the world. To find where Pandora’s Box is hidden Lara must get her hands on The Cradle Of Life. Lara must travel all over the globe to find The Cradle Of Life which will act as a map, leading her to Pandora’s Box in order to stop crime lords reaching it first and unleashing the deadly virus.

This film is merely a run of the mill sequel to a run of the mill original based on the rocky territory of a video game. When I was younger I remember playing the Lara Croft games on the old Playstation so I was interested to see how the big screen version would compare. There’s no question that Angelina Jolie was the perfect choice to play the big breasted heroine, with her stunning looks, huge probably collagen injected lips, piercing eyes and long brunette hair. In the video game Lara Croft was portrayed as a sex symbol, one that teen boys idolised as their perfect 2D woman so it was only right that they hired a real life sex symbol to play her role in the film and what bigger sex symbol is there than Angelina Jolie?

The object of the Tomb Raider films were uncannily similar to the Indiana Jones films, they were made with the succinct purpose to entertain audiences. Luckily The Cradle Of Life does this well however it was never going to reach the starry heights of what Indiana Jones managed in the 80’s was it? What Indiana Jones had that Tomb Raider hasn’t is humour… and lots of it. This is what I thought Tomb Raider was going to have in bucket loads simply because it has so much potential that it doesn’t manage to live up to. There were so many missed opportunities in The Cradle Of Life, I mean you’ve got a female heroine who is stereotypically stunning, parading around half naked at numerous places during the film however this is never built upon, there could have been so many jokes added to the film to make it a more entertaining watch. The only other actress who seems to be rivalling Angelina Jolie on the sex appeal stakes is Transformers stunner Megan Fox who seems to be capable of handling action movies, all the while having a great comic timing meaning that she’s an upcoming threat for the actress.

To summarise, the film is an enjoyable caper but unfortunately the story teeters off too much towards the end that it fails to capture audiences in the way that it’s supposed to. The lead actors do a reasonable job and play their roles competently but I only feel that a bit of comedy would have brightened up this film and made it a much more enjoyable experience.

Special features include:
Audio commentary from director Jan De Bont
Deleted and alternative scenes with optional commentary from the director
Gerard Butler's screen test
'Training' featurette (9 mins)
'Vehicles And Weapons' featurette (4 mins)
'Stunts' featurette (10 mins)
'Visual Effects' featurette (11 mins)
'Scoring' featurette (5 mins)
'Did My Time' music video from Korn 'Hearts Go...' music video from the Davey Brothers