In this sequel to "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", Lara must retrieve a stolen treasure to prevent its falling into the hands of Chen Lo, a villainous syndicate boss. While looking for antiquities in a sunken temple, Lara Croft finds a sphere that holds the location o f "Pandora's Box".

Before she can reach the surface with her find, though, Chen Lo steals the sphere and Croft must embark on a rou nd the world quest to get it back and save the world from the biological weapon the syndicate wants to create with the contents of the Box.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life may be an improvement on its 2001 predecessor, but its appeal is mostly aimed at fans of the video games that inspired both movies.

That pretty much leaves you with some fun but familiar action sequences, and the ever-alluring sight of Angelina Jolie (reprising her title role) as she swims, swings, kicks, shoots, flies, jet-skis, motorcycles, and free-falls her way toward saving the world, this time by making sure that a grimacing villain (Ciaran Hinds) doesn't open Pandora's Box (yes, the actual mythological object) and unleash a deadly plague that will "weed out" the global population.

Exotic locations add to Jolie's own coolly erotic appeal, but we're left wondering if this franchise has anywhere else to go. --Jeff Shannon