Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life stars Angelina Jolie in her second outing playing the popular video game character. The 2003 action film was directed by Jan de Bont and costars Gerard Butler, Djimon Hounsou, Ciaran Hinds and Chris Barrie.
Lara Croft, in her role as archaeologist/adventurer finds a golden glass orb in an underwater temple. Using her extensive knowledge and her vast monetary resources she quickly determines it's a map to the real world version of the Pandora's Box myth. The orb is stolen, and British Intelligence strongly requests that Lara to help retrieve it before it's thieves devise a way to turn the container full of all the world's evils into a weapon of mass destruction.
To help in this she asks for the temporary release of her ex-boyfriend Terry (Gerard Butler) who was imprisoned for selling information gathered by the elite military unit they served in together.
Reunited, the two share heated banter about their past while chasing the orb and the crime syndicate who took it, led by Ciaran Hinds. This takes them from one scenic location to another, as they race motorcycles on the Great Wall of China and fight in a cave that holds thousands of terracotta warriors. They are assisted remotely by Lara's butler Hillary (Barrie), her techie assistant Bryce (Taylor) and by tribal leader Kosa (Hounsou) once they reach their destination in Africa.
While risking her life in multiple action set pieces Lara must face the most difficult of questions: How untrustworthy is the ex-boyfriend who betrayed his country and could she bring herself to sacrifice him to save herself, and the world?
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life was produced by Paramount and written by Dean Georgaris.
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