Initial thoughts on the Tomb Raider trailer
Based on the reboot trilogy where “a survivor was born”, the new Tomb Raider movie looks like it has some growing up to do…
It’s not easy to reinvent a beloved character or game series, but Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider did just that. They told the story of a new Lara Croft. One who was overwhelmed, yet driven. One who was scared, but was shaped into a survivor. The one dimensional Lara Croft of the past had developed into a compelling and well rounded character.
From the looks of the trailer, it seems the Tomb Raider movie is struggling to convey this. We have all the big leaps and daring action which we have come to know and love Lara for, but the depth of character seems sorely missing. Perhaps one of the most moving experiences in any Tomb Raider game is witnessing Lara struggle to hunt an innocent dear. This is then added to by seeing her almost break down when she has to kill her first enemy in self defence. This Lara was truly reborn and we could witness her struggling with experiences that were never before shed a light on. This formed a strong bond between the player and Lara: one which made the game that much more brilliant.
Perhaps one of the main criticisms of the first reboot game is how quickly Lara changes from the caring character who cries at killing a deer, to a warrior who will kill anyone in her way with ease. But that can be forgiven in the game due to how well her story was told at the beginning. The problem with what we’ve seen so far in the trailer is that Lara doesn’t show these deep or troubled emotions.
We don’t need an emotionless protagonist. In fact we don’t even need a fearless hero. What makes the reboot version of Lara so likeable is how vulnerable she is shown to be at the beginning. She was up against it, and out of her element. But the trailer clearly depicts Lara performing a huge leap from the boat, before it crashes into the island. This is something which Lara should not be able to achieve this early on into her adventure. The lack of development potential for Lara is worrying.
Just like how this movie seems to mix together both plots of the prior games, it also seems to combine traits from both versions of Lara: the survivor and the warrior. Obviously all of these thoughts are solely based on the two minute trailer, so hopefully we’ll see plenty of vulnerability shown from Lara in other parts of the movie. But for now, apart from the awesome looking stunts and action scenes, Tomb Raider sadly looks like it may be set for the same fate as pretty much every other movie based on a video game.
And I’m a Survivor? Really?