DE BONT AIMS HIGH FOR TOMB RAIDER II
Copyright 2003 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ July 17th 2003 ]

Jan de Bont, director of the upcoming action sequel Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, told SCI FI Wire that he wanted to make a netter movie than the hit first film. "I don't want to say anything negative, but I felt that changes had to be made for sure, because there were a couple things I really didn't care for," de Bont said in an interview. "I think [Lara Croft's] character was way too one-dimensional. I think it needed to be really expanded on. And the story had to be much more coherent. It was not a brilliant story."

One thing that did appeal to de Bont was the lead character, played by Angelina Jolie. "I really believe in the character of Lara Croft - with my passion for female leads, for heroines - as an ideal personality to make a movie about," he said. "I was very eager to do it."

In the sequel, de Bont directed with a strong belief that action movie protagonists need to be complex characters. "You cannot just have a one-sided action hero," he said. "You have to make the hero able to show all facets of his or her personality, not just the tough edges, the adventurous side or the dangerous side. You also have to show the softer side, the vulnerable side. That, I think, is key. And if you don't do that, you will never create a real franchisable character."