Initial reactions from the Tomb Raider premiere

Walking on to the red carpet in Los Angeles, 29 year old Alicia Vikander owned the stage and looked completely comfortable. But many fans have argued that the new Lara Croft has looked less than certain in her role as the reborn survivor. Reactions to the trailer were mixed, and many felt Tomb Raider would sadly once more fall to the curse of bad movie adaptions of video games.

But initial responses to the premiere have been strong. Some have cited how Vilkander looks at home performing the death-defying stunts that we’ve come to expect from the franchise. Others have acknowledged how the movie uses famous set pieces from the reboot games. And most importantly, time and effort has been put into developing Lara’s character.

According to those present at the premiere, a lot of the opening of the movie is taken up with Lara’s character, while back home in England. It focuses on her relationship with her father, and showcases her passion for discovery. Obviously most of these scenes were not in the games, but the producers must have felt these were necessary moments to add so that there was a connection between the character and audience.

It’s great to see that there is an effort to make Lara a well rounded character, and not a 2D representation of a dynamic protagonist. It is slightly worrying that the producers decided to add these new scenes, instead of relying on what built up that bond in the games. But overall initial signs are fairly positive, and hopefully the new movies can live up to the high bar set by the reboot games.