Lara Croft.
Trained by the best explorers and survivors, she has overcome so much
since her journey to the island of Yamatai.
But all of that has come with great cost, a cost that is consuming
Lara’s soul. But when a beloved artifact
is stolen from her families collection, Lara puts grief aside to track down
this theif and reclaim this treasure.
It’s another worldwide adventure filled with danger, mysterious forces
and the destiny Lara can only run from for so long, the one that leads to her
becoming Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider.
No one can deny that Lara Croft is more than just one of
the greatest video game characters ever created.
While we’re long past the time when she was
an icon so enormous she was being used to add campaigns not related to her own
franchise, when you hear her name and that there’s a new game coming out, its
cause for excitement.
The “Survivor
Trilogy” reboot that comprised of 2013’s Tomb Raider, 2015’s Rise of the Tomb
Raider and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, dialed back the overall smoldering
sexiness factor of the character in favor of a more fresh faced beauty whose
trials and tribulations made her all the more attractive compared to the “ahem”
assets of her original form.
While we
wait for whatever game will follow that pretty awesome trilogy, we have Lara
Croft’s first animated adventure to keep us company.
Is it an trip worth taking?
The series picks up a few months after the conclusion of
the Survivor Trilogy.
While many are
surely eager to see Lara evolve into the woman who broke boundaries back in the
90s, I’m actually alright with the show starting her where they do.
The girls been running almost non stop since
her trip to Yamatai, so much so she hasn’t had time to process all the losses
she’s endured (and kind of almost jumpstarting the apocalypse in Shadow of the
Tomb Raider).
Lara’s driven to deal with
her pain by becoming a risker daredevil and lone wolf.
She’s vulnerable and isnt doing a great job
of hiding it.
It’s a good place to begin
the journey that’s supposed to serve as her final transition to her more
confident and bad ass self.
That’s not to say Lara isnt still the ultimate beautiful
bad ass she was in the Survivor Trilogy.
The animation is pretty good and Lara herself has got a gorgeous
character model to boot.
Her first
showdown with her mysterious rival for the series looks like it was fun to work
on and Lara is able to pull off some awesome moves in that gorgeous dress and
sneakers, plus her knife wielding work is super neat.
There’s also, naturally, a lot of throwbacks
to the game with puzzle solving and moments that look inspired by the series’
many quick time events.
It’s a fun ride
but I’m curious about one thing.
In the
Survivor Trilogy, Lara was brilliantly portrayed by Camila Luddington, who gave
Lara a powerful voice that made you believe in her and fall for her
simultaneously.
In Legend, she’s voiced
by the equally awesome Haley Atwell, known to most of us as Captain Peggy
Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Atwell is a great choice for the role but I’m not sure why they didn’t
approach Luddington to reprise Lara.
They got Earl Baylon to return as Lara’s confidant Jonah.
It feels nitpicky when I like both actresses
but still.
Lara Croft is long overdue for an Animated Series that
can do a lot more with her cinematic video game adventures than her three
feature film appearances.
The animation
is great.
Lara’s in a tough place that
will hopefully one she grows from.
And
Haley Atwell confidently fills the shoes of the girl destined to become a duel
gun wielding Goddess of Adventure.
So is
this an adventure worth signing up for?
Hell yes.
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