Netflix has released another trailer for Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, a new animated series starring the voice of Hayley Atwell premiering October 10. Have a look:
Said to be set “following the events of the Survivor series,” aka the rebooted Tomb Raider continuity that began in 2013, The Legend of Lara Croft will see our hero “abandon her friends to embark on increasingly more perilous solo adventures.” However, “she must return home when a dangerous and powerful Chinese artifact is stolen from Croft Manor by a thief with an uncanny personal connection. Her daring pursuit will take her on an adventure around the world and to the depths of forgotten tombs, where she will be forced to confront her true self, and decide just what kind of hero she wants to become.”
So, the first thing you may notice about the trailer is that Atwell’s Lara doesn’t actually say anything beyond, “No!”, “Hyaa!,” and “Nnngh!” Her supporting cast of foes and allies continuously assail her with passive aggressive statements, including, “This is the life you’ve chosen. Don’t make the same mistakes he did.” Or, “Sometimes I swear you have a death wish.” We also have a “We are the same, Ms. Croft…” monologue from the series’ villain, and a chorus of voices describing her in negative terms, such as “grief, death, and destruction.”
It certainly creates an oppressive atmosphere. If the series is indeed about Lara Croft overcoming a bunch of assholes to carve out an identity for herself as a globetrotting archeologist—to “find her voice,” if you will—it does a good job. But as a trailer introducing us to a legend-in-the-remaking, it’s a bit of a drag.
Although a beloved adventure hero to many, the character of Lara Croft has long faced considerable criticism since her introduction, both as a gun-toting male fantasy and as a grave-robbing (er, tomb-raiding) archeologist. When the more gritty, realistic reboot came about in 2013, it put Lara through an emotional and physical wringer, shifting the focus to her ability to endure dozens upon dozens of horrifyingly brutal action sequences (and the similarly brutal death animations that came with failing them as a player). People love to give Lara a hard time. From the looks of the trailer, it seems Legend does too, putting Lara on trial to face her “true self.”
What do you think? Will Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft make the case for getting off Lara’s back? Let us know in the comments. It hits Netflix October 10.
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