Synopsis: Archaeologist Lara stumbles upon the trail of the legendary Pandora's Box. She also discovers others are on the trail, but mean to use the box's powers for evil. It falls to her to find the box first and save the world, as only Croft can.

Now for the Zone's Eye View:

By Michelle Snow

Director: Jan de Bont

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, Chris Barrie, Noah Taylor and Djimon Hounsou

Croft. Lara Croft. Blending equal parts James Bond and Indiana Jones, this heroine is constantly called upon to use her knowledge and resources to uncover the earth's archeological mysteries and keep them from being used for evil.
As the film opens, Lara [Jolie] is on an exploration of the Mediterranean Ocean. She discovers what she believes is Alexander the Great's long lost Luna Temple, the place where he left the spoils of his many conquests. As Croft uncovers an unusual glass globe in the sunken temple, her team is attacked and she narrowly escapes with her life.

Back home at Croft Manor in England, Lara tries to decipher what the globe is. She believes it's the key to something, but what? That piece of the puzzle is given to her when the Queen's MI6 agency asks Croft to go after the mythological Pandora's Box. She puts the pieces together and realizes she needs the services of someone from her past: Terry Sheridan [Butler]. Sheridan is currently in prison, but Croft offers him freedom and immunity if he'll help her. 

As they gets closer to finding Pandora's Box, they must battle against biological weapons trader Jonathan Reiss [Hinds] and his men. He realizes the power of the artifact and intends to sell off Pandora's Box to the highest bidder. Croft must discover the location of the box before Reiss or the entire world will be destroyed.

This film is visually stunning. Jetting around the world from the oceans to the Far East, the film wisely uses the backdrops of places like Hong Kong, Greece and Kenya in place of soundstages. And when they did use stage sets, as in the Luna Temple, the scale of the designs are amazing. Many of the action sequences are bold and I was even more impressed by how obvious it was that Jolie did many of her own stunts. 
But while the film wows the eyes, it fell short in many other areas. The pacing of the film seemed to run from one action scene to another with little thought going into the segues. There's also the opening sequence to the film that really had no relation to anything else that happens in the movies. Yes, many Bond movies do that, but at least Bond is in them. In this movie, there's no reason given as to why the opening scene is there. Nobody in this scene has anything to do with either Croft or Pandora's Box.

I also noticed some obvious plot holes that really distracted me from enjoying the film. For instance, Croft is portrayed as a woman who doesn't miss much. She's very observant and sharp-witted. Yet she totally misses the obvious signs her long-standing assistant throws her way when he is captured. 
And finally, it seems as though the writers, in order to convey Croft as a tough, strong, independent woman, felt that the way to do it was to make Croft almost totally devoid of any emotion. That kind of grated on my nerves. Even during the heated scenes between Croft and Sheridan, Croft showed almost no true emotion, except in the very last scene the two share. Icy steel is a good characteristic for a heroine, but not when it's the only reaction she has.

The Cradle of Life is not the worst piece of celluloid I've seen this summer. But it had the potential to be a lot more fun than it really was.
7 out of 10