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Stars:
Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Noah Taylor, Ciaran Hinds, Djimon Hounsou, Til
Schweiger, and Christopher Barrie
Writer:
Dean Georgaris
Based
On A Story By: Steven E. De Souza and James V. Hart
Based
On The Eidos Interactive Game Developed By Core Design
Director:
Jan De Bont
Feature
length: 117 minutes
Extras:
Feature Length Audio Commentary By Director Jan De Bont, Deleted/Alternate
Scenes With Optional Jan De Bont Commentary, Featurettes, Gerard Butler’s
Screen Test, Music Videos, Bonus Trailers, Original Theatrical Website Archived
On DVD-ROM
Languages:
English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Language Subtitles (For Select
Extra Features Only)
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 26
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Angelina
Jolie returned to reprise her character role that she appears to have been born
to play in “Lara Croft – Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life.” This time Croft
races against a maniacal profiteer and scientist to find Pandora’s Box.
Whoever possesses the box would have the power to release a plague that
could annihilate humanity so of course MI-6 hires Croft to find it for them.
This is kind of a creepy idea because the film suggests that there are
representatives of different worldwide organizations that deal in the
distribution of man made and natural viruses so that they can then develop
vaccinations and cures to profit from the diseases they unleash themselves. To
be honest without sounding paranoid, I have no doubt this happens, but whether
it is terrorist organizations, pharmaceutical companies or world governments is
just too frightening to consider.
Unfortunately
the intriguing premise is all but lost in favor of lots of action. Of course
this is supposed to be an action picture and not a virus thriller, but somehow
the manner in which the action is presented often laughable instead of exciting.
I mean there are scenes where it is more than obvious that Jolie as Lara Croft
is supposed to be ultra sexy, but instead I found myself laughing at the
ridiculousness of it all. How many scenes do we need to her character parachute
or glide into a car or escape in a manner that is more befitting “James
Bond.” Sometimes there is a use of slow motion to accentuate the action that
results in the exact opposite effect and somehow the too cool and too hot to be
human character the writers give Jolie as Croft to operate in just falls flat in
this film as well. I am surprised Jan De Bont did such a lousy job with some of
the choreography of the action. This should have been an excellent match, but it
ends up more like a failed relationship.
“Indiana
Jones” and “James Bond” give the viewer formulaic action with equally
unbelievable stunts, but somehow the viewer can still watch Dr. Jones and Mr.
Bond because the action is usually done in a manner that actually forwards the
story in some way rather than just be action for the sake of action. When Dr.
Jones steals the truck containing the Ark of the Covenant in “Raiders Of The
Lost Ark,” we are enthralled by the extended action sequence because it helps
set the stakes higher for whoever has the Ark since it is supposed to have
unimaginable power, but more importantly it sets up how Jones finally liberates
the Ark long enough to get him and the Ark out of Egypt. The same thing applies
to the car chase in the most recent 007 film “Die Another Day.” When he
escapes the ice hotel, it serves as both a means of 007 getting rid of a
secondary villain while using the action to forward the story and take Bond from
one place to the next. The difference between Lara Croft’s action sequences in
“The Cradle Of Life” and the Indiana Jones features and the best Bond
adventures is that when one watches a Bond film or an Indiana Jones adventure we
are so enthralled by the action that we forget the ludicrous nature of it all
and are even unaware that this is simply a tool to excite the viewer while
getting the viewer from point A to point B. The problem with “Lara Croft –
Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life” is that we are made all too aware of the
action trying to cover up the plot holes and sometimes get her from one place to
the next thus ultimately once the magicians show how the trick is done, one can
never look at the illusion quite the same way again and the action loses it’s
thunder.
This
noted, I can only recommend “Lara Croft – Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life”
for action film junkies who have no problem leaving their brain on standby not
matter how ridiculous a film gets and for those who just can’t get enough of
Angelina Jolie strutting her stuff on screen in various luxurious, tight fitting
or skimpy outfits.
While
I did not think much of the film, I have to give Paramount Home Entertainment
credits for still giving “Lara Croft – Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life”
the A-list treatment on DVD as a part of their “Special Collector’s
Edition” series. Picture and Soundtrack wise, “Lara Croft – Tomb Raider:
The Cradle Of Life” looks and sounds great with a beautiful anamorphic
widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio that seems tailor made for DVD with the
computer enhanced colors and textures just jumping off of the screen with
fantastic clarity. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is very
well mixed and creates a great three-dimensional sound field that together with
the enhanced picture quality makes this film based on a video game look better
than some real video games on the market today. A French Language Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing
impaired are encoded onto the dual layered DVD as options. In addition, many of
the extra value features also include an optional French Language Subtitles
track too.
Director
Jan De Bont gives a soft-spoken and screen specific feature length audio
commentary track for both the feature film presentation and the 7 deleted and
alternate scenes included among the extra value features. He rarely pauses and I
think one can sense jus how much care he tried to give this film, but after
about an hour, I found it to get a bit dull. However commentary tracks like
anything else are so subjective that I want to stress that just because I got
bored does not mean others will get bored so give it a chance. The
7-deleted/alternate scenes he provides optional audio commentary for are
presented in a letterboxed (2.35:1) aspect ratio with Stereo Sound and optional
English Captions for the hearing impaired as well as French Language Subtitles.
The scenes include an alternate ending as well as some extended sequences of
scenes already in the film with unfinished effects. These scenes can be viewed
individually or as one reel (11:41).
Promotional
featurettes covering the training (8:55) Jolie underwent for the film, the
vehicles and weapons (4:29) seen in the film, stunts (10:54), visual effects
(11:26) and scoring (4:44) are all included along with a letterboxed (2.35:1)
taped screen test Gerard Butler did for the film (3:39).
Music videos of Korn’s “Did My Time” (4:02) and The Davie
Brothers’ “Heart Go Faster” (3:36) wrap up the DVD-Video extra value
features directly related to the film on this DVD. Windows based DVD-ROM users
will have access to the theatrical website archived onto the DVD itself complete
with background on the mythology explored in the film, information on the cast
and crew, interactive games, downloads, interview clips, the theatrical teaser
and trailer and much more. Of all of the extra features on this DVD, I liked
this one the most because it was not only more fun to explore in some ways, but
it was true DVD-ROM content that did not require an Internet connection to
explore most of the features. While most of us have Internet access, I do not
feel that one should have to have it in order to view ROM features. I also hate
it when some studios list the website as a DVD-ROM extra feature and all it
turns out to be is a link to the online website, which you could just as easily
visit on your own without the disc. So kudos to Paramount for actually providing
the website archived on the DVD-ROM and for making it an enjoyable experience.
Before
one enters the interactive menus for the DVD-Video features or at the bottom of
the extra features page for set top or PC users is an option to view bonus
trailers for the upcoming John Woo film “Pay Check” (2:31) and an
advertisement for “The Adventures Of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie
Collection” (2:14), which is in stores now. The main menu on the DVD is
animated with motion transitions to standard interactive still frame menus that
are easy to navigate.
Not
a great film, but a good DVD presentation nonetheless “Lara Croft – Tomb
Raider: The Cradle Of Life: Special Collector’s Edition” will debut on DVD-Video
in both widescreen and full screen versions with identical extra value features,
but sold separately, on Tuesday November 18, 2003 from Paramount Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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