Netflix has been killing the animation game recently. Ever since they’ve invested in the ever-expanding medium, they have been finding success left and right, both critically and commercially (Emmy-winning Blue Eyed Samurai is a recent example of this). Now, they continue investing in the medium by taking on the classic video game IP, Tomb Raider and giving us an animated series based on the original story.
Netflix renews its fruitful partnership with Powerhouse Animation Studios and Legendary Television to create an adventure-based origin story about the British archeologist and treasure hunter Lara Croft. The result is a missed opportunity to properly introduce new fans to the character.
Lara Croft has been around for nearly 30 years, making her initial appearance in the original Tomb Raider video game. Since then, she has had multiple versions (in movies and video games). The success of those versions has varied, but the character has proven that she is a modern classic heroine. The idea of an animated series based on her character is a no-brainer. The episodic format allows for more exploration into her backstory, and the animation aspect allows for more fantastic adventures and thrilling feats of improvisation against overwhelming odds.
However, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft fails to engage in the first aspect of this right from the start, making the second less consequential. From the beginning, we learn that Lara (Hayley Atwell) steals artifacts from temples she doesn’t belong in, in countries that she has no authority in, and attacks the protectors when they are attempting to stop Lara from her infringement. Her “uncle”/partner Roth kills these protectors and quickly justifies his actions by saying they threatened Lara. The story skips ahead, and Lara is now mourning the death of Roth and struggling to connect with her friends. This sets up future stories and character arcs that Lara has to go on; however, she is already working from a disadvantage.
We still hardly know of Lara and don’t know anything about her friends, and her first arc is moving on from Roth’s death by auctioning off her father’s stolen artifacts to other incredibly wealthy people. It feels difficult right away to establish a connection to Lara and her motivation since we don’t know what that is. The assumption is that we will learn of Lara as the story unfolds, yet episodes go by, and we are tracking down and investigating artifacts more than we are learning why we should be rooting for Lara. There are great moments throughout the first few episodes, but the story’s core and the titular character struggle to have an identity that makes for a compelling story.
This weighs down the multiple action sequences we get throughout the series. As exciting and creative as these sequences can be, when offered no motivation, they become less intriguing. At times, these action scenes seem added in for an exciting moment in the episode. This concept may come from the idea that as a video game adaptation, fans would appreciate having callbacks and references to classic obstacles Lara must encounter. Still, as a non-gamer, I wondered where we were going. If offered more time with Lara, her mission, her motivation, and her thought process, these scenes could elevate her character and demonstrate how these obstacles demonstrate her physical manifestation of overcoming her fears. Yet, most of the time, I wondered when we would learn more about what was happening in her head.
This goes for her friends as well. Being quickly introduced to Jonah and Zip with no explanation of who they were or what they meant to Lara was confusing. Most of the time, they felt like non-playable characters, which may work for her video game counterpart but not for a series based on the character. A deeper look into who exactly they were and what they brought to the story besides additional help would have benefited the series greatly.
The simplistic story also did not help the character. We learn of incredibly high stakes and world-wending consequences if Lara fails her mission, yet at no point did I feel them. The rival “tomb raider,” Charles Devereaux, is on a revenge mission to find the stones of chaos that will throw the world into a raucous spiral. Lara must stop him before he unleashes carnage that he doesn’t understand. As simple as that is, it would work in a more deliberately thought-out character study with more emphasis on Lara’s true focus and purpose. Many episodes feel like we are simply trying to find the stones before Devereaux does. Therefore, the simplistic formula fails to captivate audiences and ends up feeling trivial.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft pitches a compelling story yet falls short of a captivating series with thin character motivations, replaceable side characters, and a bland, formulaic story. This combines to create a series that fails to capture the attention of potentially new Lara Croft fans who may have heard of her exciting adventures in other formats and were interested to learn more. Unfortunately, the series offers little to that effect and hardly dives into the character to focus more on forced “excitement” with action set pieces. The character deserves a more detailed introspective look and perhaps an updated understanding of her purpose as “Tomb Raider.”
The series still features some fun moments where the Powerhouse Animation team lets loose with some rousing sequences. However, it fails to enthrall audiences completely when paired with a flat story. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft had good intentions but fell short of what could’ve been a stirring look at the classic character.