Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

The first edition of the Lara Croft showcase was so poor that it would have been unbelievable had they not produced something better for the second attempt. However, The Cradle of Life is still absolutely ridiculous, at times, as our busty hero must prevent a Noble Prize-winning psycho from obtaining Pandora's Box and using its powers for evil wrongdoing. Lara can't accomplish such a simple task by herself though and she arranges to have a former agent/ex-boyfriend released from prison in order to help her because, well, who better to create some steamy tension with the near-android Lara? The movie has far more action than its predecessor and eliminates the dreadful father/daughter relationship in favour of Angelina Jolie on a Seadoo, but even though this is an improvement, the franchise is hurting. Smart-thinking on the parts of the people in charge of compiling the DVD version of the not-very-good sophomore chapter in the wounded Tomb Raider series, as when a movie fails to capture an audience and tanks at the box-office, it's good to know some people admit defeat and keep the extras to a minimum. Deleted, alternate scenes and a few featurettes, ranging from the weapons and vehicles used in the film to the standard stunt routines, are a given for action films and serve their purpose to anyone who's interested. There's no feature on the videogame and how the inspiration for these dreadful films is far more entertaining on a computer monitor than the big screen. Instead, we're given a music video by Korn, eliminating any doubt as to what quality of film The Cradle of Life is. Plus: screen test. (Paramount)