Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life - 2003 - PG-13

This sequel to the film based on the video game is about as contrived as movies come. Every cliche was operating is full effect in this archaelogical action film about the shapely Lara Croft who tries to be Indiana Jones, but doesn't make the cut on her brains, exactly.

The film opens with the annoyingly cliche "everybody's looking for the same thing at the same time" routine, something that is near impossible in the real world, since stuff that's been buried for 3000 years tends to remain undisturbed until one person finds it. If more than one person is looking, it helps to know why. This one seemed random.

She is promised all the manpower in England, and she wants a convict. The best way to protect against this weapon they're looking for is to not find it, and yet they look for it anyway. It turns out to not even be accessible without the orb thing she found in the beginning, hence staying home would have helped immensely here. Some good effects and scary creatures in the forestal area just outside the Cradle though.

Characters are decent but relatively thin as usual. The final scene between Lara and Terry had little impact. Perhaps if they'd left more of the chemistry in, it would have helped. The villain was a "just cause" kind of guy. That's why he was evil.

So this installment fell short of being much more than an action film whose action wasn't even that interesting.