Tomb Raider: The Legend Of Lara Croft Review

Since the franchise’s launch in 1996, the Tomb Raider series has seen multiple adaptations over the years, namely the big screen incarnations led by Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander as the iconic video game adventurer. Up until now, though, it’s not been given a proper small-screen treatment, the sole exemption being 2007’s Revisioned featuring Minnie Driver voicing the role in five to seven-minute episodes. Now, thankfully, it’s getting its proper due with Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, which proves to be an exciting and stylish adaptation, despite some of its flaws.

Developed by The Witcher: Blood Origin‘s Tasha Huo, the Netflix anime acts as a sequel to Crystal Dynamics’ reboot trilogy, picking up with Lara finally returning home after abandoning her friends when an adventure results in the death of someone she cares about. To reconnect with her friends and move on from the past, Lara prepares to do away with everything in Croft Manor, only for a cunning thief to take an ancient Chinese artifact that holds mysterious power within it. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft quickly sends her on a race around the globe to recover it.

The Legend Of Lara Croft Gives Her The Best Adaptation Arc Yet

We Finally Have A Reason To Care About Lara

One of the biggest problems that has faced not just the Tomb Raider franchise, but many treasure-hunting adventures like it, is the fact that so much effort has been put into developing the lore and setpieces for the story that their lead character gets lost in the mix. Lara Croft is often an unfortunate victim of this genre trend. Jolie’s Tomb Raider movies were a case of style and over-sexualization of the adventurer, while Vikander’s reboot attempted to be more in line with the reboot games’ story about her search for her father, only for that to be put aside.

Part of what made the newer games so captivating was the fact that Lara was not an infallible figure

With Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, however, Huo does finally give us a reason to be invested in the story by chronicling how the new adventure is taking a toll on the titular character. Given the show served as a sequel to the reboot game trilogy, it would’ve been understandable if the showrunner just jumped ahead to when she was an officially established adventurer, but I appreciate she sought to keep Lara as a young-and-growing explorer.

Part of what made the newer games so captivating was the fact that Lara was not an infallible figure, but instead someone who, even with her skills, was capable of mistakes. This was no more evident than in how she was depicted in her tomb raiding, as by the end of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, she came to understand some ancient mysteries are better left in their hidden homes rather than brought out to the world in case the legends of the artifacts’ powers proved true.

Arguably, the best example of this character work is the parallel The Legend of Lara Croft draws between Hayley Atwell’s titular protagonist and Richard Armitage’s Charles Devereaux. The villain and Lara are shown as being two sides of the same coin, with the latter’s growth from the games nicely carrying over into the show as she tries to convince him revenge is never worth it, having undergone it herself by bringing down Trinity after her father’s death. Even still, the show remembers to keep Lara’s empathetic nature intact as she is brought to the brink of turning to villainy herself.

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

The Action Is Appropriately Stylish & The Tombs Beautifully Rendered

Beyond just continuing Netflix’s run in the video game adaptation genre after the likes of Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft also sees the streaming platform reteam with Powerhouse Animation to bring its source material to life, and they remain one of the best studios for the genre. Prior to the new show, Powerhouse brought their unique anime style to both Castlevania and its sequel Nocturne, as well as the Monsterverse spinoff Skull Island and Kevin Smith’s sequel show Masters of the Universe.

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

For The Legend of Lara Croft, the studio’s style really adds to the visceral nature of the show’s action, with everything from car chases to fights with supernatural creatures proving just as exciting as the games. Powerhouse also does a magnificent job of highlighting the splendor of some of the locations Lara visits throughout the series, with the opening tomb, in particular, feeling as though it was taken out of the games not only for its vibrant colors and art design, but also for its adherence to the puzzle nature of its source material.

One of Powerhouse’s best decisions for the animation is the subtly different styles used to depict some of the more supernatural elements of the show. With every combining of the powerful relics in the show’s story, we see glimpses of a different kind of hand-drawn animation, one that feels thoroughly reminiscent of ancient Chinese artwork, and as such, fits the cultural aesthetic of the main adventure. While it’s unclear if the show will get future seasons, this one choice alone makes me intrigued to see how Powerhouse would tackle similar subtle depictions of other cultures’ ancient artwork.

The Legend Of Lara Croft’s Story Still Plays Too Much Into Franchise Formula

Even With Some Meaningful Stakes, It Proves Predictable

While its animation may be stunning, and its character development better than prior installments, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is ultimately hampered by the fact that it’s too safe for the franchise as a whole, playing into its familiar formula. The introduction of a power-hungry villain does have some impact as we learn more about his sympathetic motivations and backstory, as does the seeming death of a few familiar faces, but as the show progresses and Devereaux’s powers grow, it ultimately begins to feel far too predictable for how Lara will ultimately stop him and save the world.

Despite failing to completely set itself apart from previous versions, it is ultimately encouraging to see the iconic gaming franchise finally getting a well-rounded adaptation with Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. There’s no denying it would’ve been nice to see less of an adherence to the franchise’s formula; it could’ve stayed true to some of the stakes it set up from its opening death, but with prior movies rarely keeping Lara’s character development in mind, one can hope future adaptations, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Tomb Raider show at Prime Video finds a similar balance of fresh and familiar storytelling.

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