Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Review

Since the franchise was launched in 1996 Tomb Raider The series has seen many adaptations over the years, namely big screen incarnations starring Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander as the popular video game adventurer. Although it hasn't been given the proper small screen treatment until now, the only exception being 2007. Reworked Minnie Driver voiced the role in five- to seven-minute episodes. Now, thankfully, it is getting its due price Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croftdespite some of its shortcomings, it proves to be an interesting and stylish adaptation.

made by The Witcher: Origin of BloodTasha Huo is the sequel to the Netflix anime Crystal Dynamics reboot trilogy, and as Lara finally leaves her friends and returns home, the adventure ends with the death of someone she cares about. In order to reconnect with her friends and move on from the past, Lara Croft prepares to destroy everything in the Manor, only for a cunning thief to take an ancient Chinese artifact with mysterious power inside. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft sending him racing around the world to recover quickly.

The Legend of Lara Croft Gives Him The Best Matching Arc Yet

We finally have a reason to care about Lara

One of the biggest problems he faces is not only Tomb Raider franchise, but many treasure-hunting adventures like it put so much effort into developing the story's lore and structure that their protagonist gets lost in the shuffle. Lara Croft is often the unfortunate victim of this genre bias. Jolie's Tomb Raider movies was a case of adventurer style and oversexualization, while Vikander's reboot tried to be more in line with the reboot games' story of searching for her father, only to be sidelined.

One of the things that made the new games so appealing was that Lara wasn't a flawless figure

with Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Crofthowever, Huo finally gives us a reason to invest in the story by writing how the new adventure affects the titular character. Given that the show serves as a sequel to the rebooted game trilogy, it would be understandable if the show jumped ahead to when the showrunner was officially an established adventurer, but I appreciate that it tried to keep Lara as a young and growing explorer. .

One of the things that made the new games so appealing was that Lara wasn't a flawless figure, but someone who could make mistakes even with her abilities. This was no more evident than how he was portrayed during the tomb raid. Shadow of the Tomb Raiderhe realized that some ancient secrets were best left in their secret homes, to be released to the world if the legends about the artifacts' powers proved true.

Arguably the best example of this character work is parallel The Legend of Lara Croft It is drawn between Hayley Atwell's protagonist and Richard Armitage's Charles Devereaux. Villain and Lara are shown to be two sides of the same coin, with the latter's growth from the games coming into the show nicely as he tries to convince her that revenge is never worth it, which he experienced firsthand by bringing Trinity down in his wake. father's death. Still, the show remembers to preserve Lara's empathetic nature as she teeters on the brink of villainization.

Powerhouse's Animation Is A Perfect Fit For The Tomb Raider World

The Action Is Appropriately Stylish And The Tombs Are Beautifully Done

In addition to continuing Netflix's work in the video game adaptation genre Hidden and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft sees the streaming platform once again working with Powerhouse Animation to bring its source material to life, and they remain one of the top studios for the genre. Before the new show, Powerhouse brought their own unique anime style to both Castlevania and its continuation Nocturneas well as a Monsterverse spinoff Skull Island and the Kevin Smith sequel show Masters of the Universe.

One of Powerhouse's best animation decisions is the subtly different styles used to portray some of the show's more supernatural elements.

for The Legend of Lara Croftthe studio's style really adds to the visceral nature of the show's action, with everything from car chases to battles with supernatural creatures proving to be just as exciting as the games. Powerhouse also does a great job of highlighting the grandeur of some of the places Lara visits throughout the series, especially with the opening tomb, which looks like it was lifted from the games, not only with its vibrant colors and artistic design. but also because of its faithfulness to the puzzle nature of the source material.

One of Powerhouse's best animation decisions is the subtly different styles used to portray some of the show's more supernatural elements. In each combination of powerful remnants of the show's story, we see glimpses of distinct hand-drawn animation that thoroughly evokes ancient Chinese artwork and matches the cultural aesthetic of the main adventure. While it's unclear if the show will have future seasons, this choice alone makes me curious to see how Powerhouse will tackle similar subtle depictions of ancient artwork from other cultures.

The Legend of Lara Croft's Story is still very much playing on the Franchise Formula

Even with some meaningful stakes, it's predictable

Its animation can be amazing and while the character development is better than the previous installments, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft as a result, it's hampered by being too safe for the franchise as a whole, following its familiar formula. The introduction of a power-hungry villain has some impact as we learn more about his sympathetic motivations and backstory, with Death appearing as a few familiar faces but ultimately starting to feel distant as the show progresses and Devereaux's powers grow. Very predictable as to how Lara will eventually stop him and save the world.

Despite its inability to completely differentiate itself from previous versions, it's encouraging to finally see the iconic game franchise finally get a comprehensive adaptation. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. There's no denying that it would be nice to see less adherence to the franchise formula; she may have stuck to some of her posthumous stakes, but given Lara's rare character development in previous films, one can only hope for future adaptations, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge's. Tomb Raider On Prime Video, the show strikes a similar balance of fresh and familiar stories.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft inow streaming on Netflix. The series consists of 8 episodes.