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Lara Croft is a British archaeologist whose adventures take her to ancient tombs and hazardous ruins, often running against the clock with nefarious antagonists hot on her heels or at the end of her fists. If you don’t know that name, you’ll surely recognize her other moniker: Tomb Raider. First appearing in 1996, the video game character is one of the medium’s most influential. With more than 20 video games, Tomb Raider is one of the best-selling video game series of all time. Lara Croft’s popularity has never gone away.
With blockbuster films and a video game reboot, her appeal is obvious. Besides her treasure-hunting badassery, why Tomb Raider has remained successful for almost thirty years (apart from the disproportionate lack of female characters in video games) is how nuanced she is and how rich and complex her backstory is. The Netflix animated series by Powerhouse Animation Studios, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, looks to expand her story even further, sticking to what we love most about the character while incorporating the right mix of action-adventure to fully capture the spirit of the video games it follows.
Tomb Raider review
Within the very first seconds of this new adaptation, the audience is thrown into one of the renowned Tomb Raider’s many adventures, with sword-wielding enemies hot on her tail. Lara Croft (voiced by Hayley Atwell) gets away, of course, with a devious chuckle. None of her treasure hunts go smoothly, but it’s nothing she can’t handle – and her stubbornness and determination ensure success. A lot is riding on her efforts. For one, she feels a weight of responsibility to make her deceased father proud and finish the research he started. Her father’s legacy drives her, but so too does protecting the world’s mysteries from those who would use them for harm. The show’s introduction serves to give its audience a sense of the kind of adventures they can look forward to, but also hook you to Lara as a character.
It also proves to be a flashback, as Lara is reflecting on her last successful mission with her mentor and father figure, Roth (Nolan North). While this series follows the events of the latest video game trilogy, it seems to be focusing heavily on the events of the first game, specifically Roth’s death. The re-introduction of the titular survivor from the Survivor trilogy (Tomb Raider; Rise of the Tomb Raider; Shadow of the Tomb Raider) feels like a shadow of herself. She feels responsible for Roth’s death and carries immense guilt for putting her friends in danger, even though they wouldn’t bat an eye to be by her side.
She hasn’t been home to Croft Manor in six months because she no longer knows what home is. Hoping that giving away her father and Roth’s things will bring her some kind of peace, she forces herself to return home. However, she finds herself going head to head with a thief, Charles Devereaux (Richard Armitage), who makes off with the last artifact that she and Roth collected. In the wrong hands, this artifact threatens the balance between chaos and order. Making chase, Lara travels across the globe once again, but what she finds along the way isn’t just the stuff of ancient legends. She says that Croft Manor is full of ghosts, but she’s the one that’s haunted. She learns, as the show progresses, that she can’t run from her past forever and must decide what kind of hero she wants to be.
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The biggest drawback of this series is how it feels more geared towards audiences who are already familiar with the Survivor trilogy. There are mentions of things like Yamatai, Trinity, and other characters with no context for someone watching who hasn’t played the games. Character backstory also feels to be lacking, especially with the side characters. And while they fill in many of the gaps with Lara, thanks mainly to flashbacks, it feels like the audience is expected to know a lot about her already.
However, with an emotional opening, creator and showrunner Tasha Huo really hooks you into what proves to be just as thrilling an action-adventure as the games this Netflix series follows. Admittedly, it’s much more satisfying to be a part of the action in video game form, but there’s still lots of fun to be had with this series. Like many of Lara’s quests, nothing comes easy. With great fight sequences and many interesting detours and puzzles, Lara encounters many challenges and this keeps the audience engaged. Lara herself is still quick on her feet and an equally quick draw of her ice axe like in the latest video game trilogy, and the series is still as seeped in culture and mythology. The cities of legend that Lara discovers here are beautifully designed, and while the characters aren’t as well captured as in other Netflix animated works, the details in the environments impress, especially with the more mythical set pieces.
The voice cast is also excellent. Atwell takes on the role of Lara for the first time and can evoke every emotional beat with compelling depth and also brings a bit of cheeky humor. The re-introduction of Lara’s friend and tech expert, Zip (Allen Maldonado), brings a lot of comedic relief in his commentary. What’s especially a treat for fans is Earl Baylon reprising his role as Jonah from the video games. The development of Lara’s friendships, and how they transform her as a hero, are important in this series. She starts off very isolated because of how much she blames herself for Roth’s death and how much she regrets putting her friends in danger time and time again, but she comes to realize how much she needs them to be the Lara Croft we’ve come to know.
This latest Tomb Raider adaptation is most interesting when it sees Lara confronting her fears, like abandonment, and sees her grappling with her grief. This is also what makes the second game in the trilogy, Rise of the Tomb Raider, the most compelling. The game allows you to walk through Croft Manor with Lara, and every item discovered, every puzzle solved, leads to a memory that reflects loss. It’s the same here, the series being its strongest in moments of reflection. In that sense, Huo captures the spirit of the games and creates the strongest entry outside of that medium.
It’s especially fulfilling to be introduced to a Lara who seems less battle-hardened and more broken than ever before and go on the journey with her to find her strength again and remember who she is beyond her grief. Who are we without those we have lost is a question that’s threaded throughout this series, the films, and the video games.
Like the Survivor trilogy, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is driven by more than artifacts or action set pieces, but by those treasures we can’t find in a tomb. In Lara’s case? Her friends. One can hope that a hinted second season will build these relationships and Lara’s character even more.
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Grade: B+
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft
Thrust into a high-stakes chase around the world, fearless adventurer Lara Croft confronts her traumatic past while unraveling an ancient mystery.
Release Date: October 10, 2024
Director: Tasha Huo
Cast: Hayley Atwell , Allen Maldonado , Earl Baylon
