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The plot says the "cradle of life" where all life on earth began was discovered by
Alexander the Great thousands of years ago. In an unknown location, the cradle now holds "Pandora's Box" which contains powers that can unleash a plague on the
planet. The map that leads to the cradle of life is in the form of a sparkling orb that lies somewhere in the submerged ruins of Alexander's Luna Temple.
Archaeologist and adventurer Lady Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) retrieves the orb but she is robbed of it by Chinese crime leader Chen Lo (Simon Yam). She must now track
Chen and his men down in China in order that the orb and Pandora's Box may not fall into the hands of evil genius Jonathan Reiss (Ciaran Hinds). Croft goes on a mission
for Her Majesty's Secret Service, teaming up with former British commando Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler). Croft's pursuit of the orb ultimately leads her to Africa where
the cradle of life is to be found, but Reiss and his men drop in to spoil her day.
As in Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, Jolie emerges in this movie as the sun in the solar system, the
entity around which everything revolves and without which there would be no such system to speak of. You've got to give it to the girl: Jolie is the perfect incarnation
of the cyber Lara Croft, outshining and overshadowing everything and everyone coming into the screen with her. Not quite human yet more than so, she's a stunning figure
that could have sprung right out of the pages of Vogue and somersaulted into underwater ruins to save the world from the evil machinations of big bad men. Even her
facial features are so mobile and expressive that her face projects an intriguing image of nobility tinged with an iota of evil. But wait-Jolie's role and presence, no
matter how pivotal to the movie, isn't the whole movie, and she couldn't have been what she's come out were it not for the contributions of the stunt people, the director,
supporting actors, special effects, and all those in the credits. And that crowd-drawing silver diving ensemble that ought to make 007 wish he were a girl. Despite
the occasional lapse in editing, the predictable story, the impoverished dialogue, the obviously choreographed combat scenes, and the ridiculous deus ex machina (imagine
punching a shark, aw!) the movie as entertainment is still a bargain. Why, for 60 bucks you get a free ride to Greece, China, Africa, Hong Kong without even
bothering about visas-just like Lara Croft! Any other escape cheaper than that?
Now we come to the moral of the story. As long as your feet are planted firmly on the
ground, you'll find Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life amusement that's worth your while. If you can distinguish fiction from fact, and don't expect to live a life as a
do-gooder in the manner of Lara Croft, you'll appreciate the movie's message: the good of the many (millions of people, that is), must come over and above the satisfaction of
one's self. You'll have to see the movie until the end to find it.
(Date reviewed: July 25, 2003)
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