NipPierce Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

celestialbaby23 Angelina Joli sure does make a good Tomb Raider. Action scenes were done very well in my opinion. Storyline was pretty good also.

Charles Herold (cherold) I liked the first Angela Jolie Tomb Raider movie, but this ... this was awful. The dialogue was ludicrous, much of the acting was awful, and the whole thing just overwhelmed me with tedium.I watched the first 25 minutes, which had one muddled action scene and a nonsense plot. Since some of the negative reviews here said there were some good stunts I did fast forward and found an action scene around the mid-point but it wasn't any good either, so I gave up on the thing. This isn't uncommon in Hollywood, where a sequel is often approached as a quick cash grab in which all the money goes to the bankable star leaving little left for the actual movie, which has the overall quality of action TV series from the '80s.Don't bother.

eric262003 Thousands of years ago, Alexander the Great discovered the greatest source of life on Earth, the Cradle of Life. The power within the box that was dubbed Pandora's Box was had a plague-like side effects that the ruler had hidden the box and has never been revealed since then. Today, an evil bio-terrorist named Dr. Jonathan Reiss (Ciaran Hinds) is in hot pursuit of that box and is willing to exploit its powers to our vulnerable world. Lady Lara Croft, assigned by the MI6 was called upon to retrieve the box before it's placed in the wrong hands. That's pretty much about the story of "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life." The opening scenes start off like you would expect set in the Santorini Islands off of Greece where fishing boats are all around. Then all of the sudden, a speeding jet ski appears on the scene and makes a flip onto one of the fishing boats. Sure enough it's Lady Croft. Just then, a massive earthquake erupts and ironically opens up a secret, mythological hideaway hidden undersea, which might be Alexander's Luna Temple. So Lady Croft and her crew get in their deep sea gear and start exploring the area in hopes to find The Cradle of Life. Croft and her crew discover an orb which could be the element that could lead to The Cradle of Life, and Pandora's Box and all the powers it contains. What Croft doesn't know is that the leader of an Ancient Chinese gang called the Shay Ling, Chen Lo (Simon Yam) also has his mindset on that orb. During the fight, he and his men grab Lady Croft and strand her in a cavern. While this happens, the quake aftershock comes into effect and closes the temple down. The always resourceful Croft makes a miraculous escape as she hops onto a shark for safety. Lady Croft's journey takes us around the world as she's assigned by MI6 as Dr. Croft enlists a former British Commandeer, now serving as a mercenary who's been incarcerated in Kazakhstan named Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler). If he promised to help her on her dangerous mission, he promised Sheridan his freedom, amnesty, 5 million pounds and the return to British government. For if her mission fails, than Reiss will have the power for world domination, the orb that will open Pandora's Box and unlock a mysterious disease which could lead to a potential global epidemic. The globe hopping adventure takes us from Greece, to China, to Hong Kong and finally to Kenya, where it's claimed that the Cradle of Life is situated. Video game aficionados will likely have their eyes set on this sequel to the Lara Croft video game adaptation and might even like it better than its predecessor. Angelina Jolie is great person to watch as she's both intelligent and quite stunning to look at. but there thing that really makes her stand out is that she carries a big set of guns. Come on guys, we all know you're all smitten for foxy chicks with huge guns. This movie has several action scenes that could compare to that of the more recent James Bond movies. If the Broccoli family wanted to change genders of Bond, she could be the next Bond. Even though Jolie carries the bulk of the film, the supporting cast does a fine job as well. Butler does a great job as Croft's partner and shows that he's not just a sidekick to Croft on her dangerous adventures. He has the physical toughness and the good- looking appeal and is anything but a tag-along for the ride character. Sure the romance element between him Croft were not needed, but it never hindered the film in the least. Many of the cast seems under- developed as they can be just bullet shields for our leading heroine. Cieran Hinds is convincing as the evil genius even if his bad guy role is clichéd. However German actor Til Schweiger stands out in much- needed comic relief as Reiss' sidekick,Sean. Returning to the sequel are Christopher Barrie and Noah Taylor as Croft's technological experts Hillary and Bryce, but are not prominent in their roles. Same can be said of Djimon Hounosu as Croft's Kenyan companion.The technical features are in sync with the big-budget that came into making this sequel (it was $300 million worldwide). The stunts, costumes, choreography and the cinematography was a first class act in itself. A big shout out goes to Jim Henson's Creature shop at providing some invigorating monsters when Lara and company enter into the realms of the Cradle of Life. The Cradle itself looks like a carbon copy of the famous Escher painting, you know the painting with all those stairs surrounding the area. And the stairs are going around different places. "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life" is something that both boys and girls can both enjoy. for the guys because of the immense popularity of the classic video game this movie's based on and for the girls an iconic female hero they can look up to. And for fans who love thrill-seeking sagas like Indiana Jones, James Bond or the Bourne series, will truly enjoy this film as well. But as more films are dependant on saturating the screens with CGI graphics, I fear that if they spawn another sequel of this series, it will not exceed the expectations of the first one and this one. Let's not let this happen.

gengar843 As you may be aware, this film is fictional, and therefore I will not be speaking to whether sharks growl, or if black acid pools exist.What I will be saying is that a film doesn't have to be a national treasure in order to be top-notch. All it has to do is play its cards correctly.Female heroine. Superb. She's not jaded, not a feminist, and she's a romantic. VERY unique in the world of film where women heroes are supposed to out-man the man. She's tough, clever, smart, worldly, well-connected, great-looking, and still has a soft spot for the skyline of Hong Kong.Male anti-hero. Nicely held together. Gerard Butler is absolutely smashing here, never better. His repartee with Lara is simple but high on the keen level, so kudos to the screenwriter. As Lara, skilled, connected, and just a bit flawed in the moral department makes Terry ripe for his own death.The action. The pace on this film is on par with almost any James Bond movie. The lulls are few and contain interesting scenery, mainly travelogue. We go to Africa, Greece, and China, on location. Jolie's prowess is truly on display, martial arts, weaponry, horseback, climbing, acrobatics. While some aspects feel rushed, most are just right. The stunts are tremendous and hardly anything looks fake, even if it is a movie.The plot. A bit thin after the initial setup. Mostly, this is a chase and be chased film. Some Bond, some Bourne, some Indiana Jones. The villain is centered correctly, only becoming unhinged at the very end. I think Reiss' toughness was overrated and the finale fight with Lara was about 30 seconds too long, since she is obviously superior in every way to his wild gunslinging. The orb was QUITE interesting, and the Greek mythology mixed with origins of life was, of course, a rip from The Lost Ark, among others. This was not distracting, actually, as there is little to go wrong when a plot centers around, essentially, the power of God.Special Effects. The guardians of the canyon were fun and slight, just right for this type of film, intense but not evil enough to spill this to demonic. Their movements were exciting, and the way they guard/kill quite interesting, by absorbing the humans into the terrain. The box itself was somewhat of an anticlimax, not being opened long enough to produce havoc.Dialogue. Not riveting, but not boring or annoying. A straight shot.Is Alien a better franchise? Terminator? Star Trek? Star Wars? Obviously yes. But you will be hard-pressed to find a more well-rounded film than this one, where fun and excitement meet sincere movie-making.