Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

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Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

PG-13

Released Jul 25, 2003

1h 58m

Adventure

Action

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Popcornmeter

24%

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172 Reviews

44%

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250,000+ Ratings

Fearless explorer Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) tries to locate Pandora's box before criminals Jonathan Reiss (Ciarán Hinds) and Chen Lo (Simon Yam) use it for evil. According to myth, the box holds deadly organisms that could kill millions of people. With her old partner, Terry (Gerard Butler), Croft goes on a hunt that takes her from Europe to Asia to Africa, where pal Kosa (Djimon Hounsou) helps her. Along the way, Croft rappels down cliffs, scuba dives and decimates many male opponents.

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Critics Consensus

Though the sequel is an improvement over the first movie, it's still lacking in thrills.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

It's not half bad, with cool locations and a great stunt leap from the top of a Hong Kong high-rise. Unlike the wink-winking Charlie's Angels, Croft 2 mostly, and wisely, keeps a straight face.

Mar 13, 2018

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Better than the first, but not by much.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 25, 2010

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David Rooney

Variety

The less welcome news is that most of the same shortcomings that cramped the first installment are still dogging the sequel, which delivers on action but dawdles through downtime.

Apr 12, 2010

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Even the rock-tree monsters that appear late in the game look familiar - perhaps disgruntled extras from the set of Fraggle Rock.

Rated: 1.5/4

Jun 6, 2021

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Allison Rose

FlickDirect

Jolie once again does an impressive job as the iconic video game heroine and her banter with a very young-looking Butler is convincing.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jun 2, 2021

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

It might be ever-so-slightly better than the last one, but that level of improvement is virtually unquantifiable.

Rated: 2/10

Oct 9, 2020

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Frans B

Brilliant. Huge improvement on predecessor. Very well directed by Jan de Bont and brought to screen successfully. Angelina Jolie so at home in Lara Croft character, well, the whole cast really shines in character. Great story, well written with lots of action, stunning visuals, excellent cinematography and enough twists in the whole mix. Thrilling and captivating, very entertaining

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/25/25

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Oliver J

An improvement on the original. Ok so even though i prefer the first films action the story here is by far the better of the two, of course angelina jolie plays classic lara so well and even better in this movie like she’s plucked straight out of the game, the cast number of locations we visit in this movie as well gives it a universal feeling and classic tomb raider vibes as lara goes to different locations, while the action is still top notch and angelina’s version of lara is picture perfect, the only problem i have is giving her a love interest as lara works well in her own she doesn’t need a man, that small nitpick aside i absolutely love this movie and the first they both capture the feel and vibe of the classic tomb raider games phenomenally, and angelina jolie is about the perfect classic lara croft you can get giving her her classic banter wit sexiness and brains as well as her sarcasm

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/25/25

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Stephen C

Success in 1 hour and 58 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated PG-13 for Some Sensuality and Action/Violence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $65,700,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/29/25

Full Review

Gerald H

The charme of an Indiana Jones story lies within the main character‘s fallibility. But it seems, that heroines never fail. Neither here, nor in a modern MCU flick. Boring. Puke.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/27/25

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Justin W

Lara continues her favourite leisure time destroying ancient wonders. Nothing fresh here just good actions.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/10/25

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Michael A

This movie is bad and I don't mean bad-ass; I only kept watching because it stars Jolie and Butler.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/07/25

Full Review

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Jan de Bont

Director

Angelina Jolie

Lara Croft

Gerard Butler

Terry Sheridan

Ciarán Hinds

Jonathan Reiss

Chris Barrie

Hillary

Noah Taylor

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Synopsis

Fearless explorer Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) tries to locate Pandora's box before criminals Jonathan Reiss (Ciarán Hinds) and Chen Lo (Simon Yam) use it for evil. According to myth, the box holds deadly organisms that could kill millions of people. With her old partner, Terry (Gerard Butler), Croft goes on a hunt that takes her from Europe to Asia to Africa, where pal Kosa (Djimon Hounsou) helps her. Along the way, Croft rappels down cliffs, scuba dives and decimates many male opponents.

Director: Jan de Bont
Producer: Lloyd Levin, Lawrence Gordon
Screenwriter: Dean Georgaris, Steven E. de Souza, James V. Hart
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: BBC, Mutual Film Company
Rating: PG-13 (Some Sensuality|Action/Violence)
Genre: Adventure, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 25, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $65.7M
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: Surround

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