Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
User Score
7.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 118 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 118
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 118
  3. Negative: 19 out of 118

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  1. grandpajoe6191
    Sep 24, 2011
    3
    Man, why won't people know that game-adapted movies don't have the capacity to become equal as those from the pure brain? "The Cradle of Life" is a very appropriate example and solution for my statement. Its terrible, worse than the prequel. Avoid the movie and watch something alse.
  2. BradD.
    Aug 12, 2003
    0
    The only other movie I've walked out of before is Spy Kids, and thats not much competition for a movie that features an oscar winning actress and the director of Speed. This movie is terrible. It is soooo boring. And yet it is so action packed its almost as if they tried to make it not boring but failure is inevitable in a movie like this.
  3. Dudley
    Aug 6, 2003
    1
    Bad, I mean really bad. If you must see it, wait for the DVD. Not worthy of your hard earned dollars.
  4. christians
    Aug 8, 2009
    4
    A disappointment that has a terrible conclusion and a flimsy script. the first is better.
  5. ChadS.
    Jul 26, 2003
    4
    "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" comes alive for a brief moment when our heroine speaks Chinese to a boat-dwelling family. It's the only time Jolie looks like she's having any fun. Couldn't the writers give her some wise-crackin' one-liners or playful banter with the romantic interest? At least Arnold has "Talk to the hand." If personalities don't emerge, you sit and stifle a yawn while waiting for the next action sequence. … Expand
  6. TellyS.
    Jul 26, 2003
    0
    If you don't like "brain numbing pieces of Hollywood escriment", don't go see them. As long as "brain numbed American movie goers" keep paying hundreds of millions of dollars to see "brain numbing pieces of Hollywood escriment" they will contiue to be made.
  7. KelvinM.
    Jul 27, 2003
    0
    Extremely painful to watch. Jan De Bont couldn't have made a worse movie if he tried. This confirms my belief that film critics must be paid off by the studios. How is it possible that Roger Ebert gave this movie a good review. Perhaps he skipped the screening and made up a review from the Cliff Notes. I want my money back on this one.
  8. DevonY.
    Aug 11, 2003
    0
    Gimme a break as this movie is awful. In one word: REFUND.
  9. NickV.
    Jan 4, 2004
    1
    Sorry, but this was pretty bad. There are alot of better ones out there and you can afford to miss this one.
  10. AndrejSpec
    Jul 25, 2003
    0
    I have had root canals more pleasant. Will somebody PLEASE stop these brain numbing pieces of Hollywood escriment.
  11. Robert
    Jul 26, 2003
    1
    Absolutely awful. Its impossible to buy the ridiculous stunts that occur in this movie. I've never been so bored during such a frenetically paced action movie as I was during this.
  12. RyanM.
    Jul 26, 2003
    0
    As bad as bad gets.
  13. Beowulf
    Jul 28, 2003
    1
    Not even AJ's wetsuit nipples (which seemed a little too perky to be real) could save this movie. Substandard special effects, banal dialoge, innane plot... nothing worth seeing here.
  14. MovieLonely94
    Oct 24, 2010
    2
    also, a boring piece of crap
  15. Thegodfatherson
    May 19, 2013
    4
    But a movie has to be judged on its own merits, and Cradle of Life is executed in a sort of workman like fashion. It's a tad slow and overlong mainly because the plot is so thin, but the action sequences have their moments. It derails when the gang reaches the title Cradle of Life, where they encounter shadow demons and a realm where physics don't apply. The ending is lifted almost entirely from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, including the decision about what to do with Pandora's Box. And in the end, Lara Croft, just like the audience, doesn't really care what's happened, who's been hurt or if the world has been saved. It was just another day at the office for this video game heroine.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
43 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 34
  3. Negative: 7 out of 34
  1. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    50
    It’s not half bad, with cool locations and a great stunt leap from the top of a Hong Kong high-rise.
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  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Mark Caro
    50
    Superior to 2001's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" in almost every way. It's better directed, more consistently acted, and its writing, while at times ridiculous, at least has a modicum of logic at its core. I still had to slap myself to stay awake.
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  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    50
    A creditable genre entry, the rare action movie with a discernible story, an assured pace and a charismatic central character. It falls apart in the end.
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