Another instalment in the Tomb Raider franchise hit theatres last month with Academy Award winner, Alicia Vikander, filling the role of Lara Croft. The story of the young archaeologist who explores far-flung locations for treasure has come a long way since the first video game release in 1996.
In her debut, she is portrayed as an ambitious and adventurous explorer who delves into ancient monuments to discover artefacts known as the Scion. Her mission takes her all around the world, visiting India, Greece and Egypt as she looks for the mysterious treasures. She comes up against dangers and enemies which she must defeat to reach her goal and uncover an ancient conspiracy. It’s this version that solidified the shorts and tank top costume that would be her trademark look.
The game’s popularity in the 90s spring boarded a big-budget movie adaptation in 2001, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, which rocketed the already famous Angelina Jolie into super stardom. It wasn’t a straight remake of the game, but it contained many similar story arcs, ancient locations across the world, a deep conspiracy and wall to wall action. It also introduced the missing father plot point that would be present in all of the following film releases in the Tomb Raider franchise. While not well received by the critics, the success of the video game drove the loyal fans into theatres and it was a box office hit.
After a sequel starring Jolie, we wouldn’t see another major Tomb Raider title until the 2013 video game prequel. In the time since the movies, the discussion surrounding Lara Croft and what she meant for female video game protagonists evolved. In 1996 she was one of the first major female leads in a popular video games and was praised for her resourcefulness, intelligence and that her story didn’t revolve around a male character. However, as more and more female video game characters broke the glass ceiling, Tomb Raider was also criticised for Lara’s sexualised design, impractical outfit, colonialist tendencies and how this shaped the creation of future video game heroines.
The developers of the 2013 game must have been paying attention to what was being said when they brought out another Tomb Raider game, which rebooted the origins of Lara Croft. Set before her Tomb Raider status, the story focusses on Croft as a recent archaeology graduate who is shipwrecked on a remote Japanese island and faces dangers from a strange cult. The game creators intentionally wrote Lara with vulnerabilities and emotional depth to develop her backstory, but by the end of the game you see the emergence of the badass action star that we know and love.
If we are resigned to repeating the past, then a new Tomb Raider game spells the production of a new Tomb Raider film. Still in cinemas, Alicia Vikander’s depiction of the video game heroine is still making waves as the movie explores further depths into her character. She’s much the same age as in the 2013 game and still untested in the world of tomb raiding, but this time she has the added angst of rejecting her upper-class upbringing, cementing a fierce independent streak. Like Jolie, Vikander’s Croft has the mystery of her father’s disappearance hanging over her head. Soon she’ll be off facing the dangers and perils of a remote Japanese island, following in her father’s footsteps.
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She already has a rich history over the last twenty years, but the world of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise is sure to keep going strong.