Netflix’s Tomb Raider Anime Finally Does Right By Lara Croft
A good game adaptation doesn’t always have to reboot the source material.
Lara Croft is one of the world’s most famous video game heroes, but you’d be forgiven if your knowledge of the character begins and ends with her big screen appearances. Angelina Jolie was the first to breathe life into the buxom bombshell in 2001, and for a time, her tenure as Lara Croft overshadowed anything going on with the games. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its 2003 sequel, The Cradle of Life, might be the most infamous example of what not to do when adapting a decades-spanning video game series.
But even without those less-than-perfect films, Lara Croft’s legacy has always been checkered. Not all her adventures have been winners, and it’s taken a long time to free the character from the trap of the male gaze. Hollywood seemed to catch up in 2018, with a fresh reboot that downplayed Lara’s status as a digital pinup girl. Her new origin story didn’t make much of a dent in the zeitgeist, but with Netflix stepping in with its own take on the character, this third time just might be the charm.
Even to the untrained eye, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft feels like the most accurate on-screen portrayal of the character and her world. It took over 20 years, but Lara Croft fans finally have a story they can be proud of, one that threads the needle between narrative integrity and honest-to-goodness fun.
Notably, The Legend of Lara Croft is not a reboot of Lara Croft’s origin story. It’s actually tied into the games, picking up after the 2013-2018 Survivor trilogy of Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Those who’ve never played the games needn’t fret, though, as the animated series packs in enough context to bring any viewer up to speed on Lara’s most recent adventures.
Developed by Tasha Huo (Witcher: Blood Origin) and Legendary Television, The Legend of Lara Croft introduces Lara Croft (voiced by Marvel alum Hayley Atwell) amid an existential rut. It’s been years since she embarked on any adventures with her team; after the demise of her mentor, Lara has chosen the way of the lone wolf. She’s even preparing to auction off all the treasure she’s acquired over the years, leaving her past life behind for good. But things change when a mercenary named Devereaux steals one of her most lucrative finds, a jade box said to bring immeasurable wealth to anyone who touches it.
In truth, the artifact is much more powerful and dangerous than Lara realized. It houses a “peril stone,” a mythical gem that can unleash chaos on the world. Upon reconnecting with her team (Tomb Raider characters like Zip and Jonah feature in the series), Lara learns there are peril stones hidden all over the world; her quest to retrieve her artifact quickly spirals into a mission to stop Devereaux from destroying civilization by acquiring more.
Tomb Raider’s central mystery takes a page from Chinese mythology, bringing its heroine face-to-face with a new threat.
As the series finds itself smack dab between the Survivor trilogy and the original Tomb Raider games, The Legend of Lara Croft is tasked with bridging the gap between two different versions of the character. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of emotional depth here, as a serialized format allows Huo to explore Lara’s inner world — especially her unresolved grief and commitment issues — without sacrificing a globe-trotting exploration of Chinese mythology.
The series wouldn’t be out of place alongside the more notable entries to the franchise, but the fact that it’s telling a new story in such a well-trodden world is a feat unto itself. The Legend of Lara Croft makes for a compelling watch for hard-core fans and newbies alike, proving that game adaptations don’t always have to be hard-and-fast reboots of the source material.
