Tomb Raider 3?
Yes, I know... the first two movies weren't exactly masterpieces... they were poorly received by the critics and they didn't satisfy the hardcore fans of the franchise, although they were reasonable box office hits.
I think that was mainly due to the total failure of THE FIRST ONE, the one which have been hyped the most and indeed the worst of the two.
"Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" had a really weak screenplay. The characterization of the main protagonist was totally crap, the story was quite good but it was developed in a wrong way (the artifact wasn't interesting at all... and the logical connection between the events wasn't always clear).
Even if I think acting was good (Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Chris Barrie, Noah Taylor, John Voight and Iain Glen... all great performances...) and so was the directing (the camera work on the sets emphasized A LOT the amazing locations in which the movie was shot), the lack of a good story and the wrong characterization of Lara Croft (who seemed to be a robot without emotions and incapable of any kind of mercy) doomed the movie to flop.
"The Cradle of Life", instead, was a quite good adventure film in my opinion. It was entertaining and spectacular, even if it had a couple of awful scenes (some were definitely TOO unbelievable).
But now the point is: this year the theaters will see the come-back of "Indiana Jones" and the return of "The Mummy" franchise. I'm sure those movies will have GREAT success, no doubts about it. "National Treasure 2" also was a box office hit, meaning the action/adventure films are still alive and appealing to the audience.
Well, what if after "Indy IV" Paramount decided to produce a third sequel to the "Tomb Raider" saga? Would you give it a chance?
I personally think the franchise has A LOT of unexpressed potential, and I would REALLY like to see a well-made "Tomb Raider 3" (obviously with Angelina Jolie, Chris Barrie and Noah Taylor still on board
).
Any thoughts?