Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

• Based on Tomb Raider created by Crystal Dynamics
• Developed by Tasha Huo
• October 10, 2024 to Present. They say a second season is coming
• Netflix

Voice Cast

• Lara Croft-Hayley Atwell
• Young Lara-Maggie Lowe
• Zip-Allen Maldonado
• Jonah Maiava-Earl Baylon
• Charles Devereaux-Richard Armitage
• Camilla Roth-Zoe Boyle
• Abby Ortiz-Roxana Ortega
• Conrad Roth-Nolan North
• Joslin Reyes-Mara Junot
• Sam Nishimura-Karen Fukuhara
• Eva Tong-Ming-Na Wen
• Daji-Xanthe Huynh
• Leo-Stan Walker
• Winston-Jonathan Roumie
• Elvan Kaya-Rachel Rosenbloom
• Richard Croft-Ben Prendergast

Lara Croft must stop a man from reuniting powerful jewels.

I like action-adventure cartoons so Netflix’s Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft was an easy sell to me. Sadly it leaves a lot to be desired. The one thing I can’t complain about is the animation. It’s not great but it’s not terrible. It is that 90s animation which was meant to look cool that every 90s cartoon used. I am fine with that.

If I had any complaints, the first would be the dialogue used by the characters. It is absolutely terrible. Some of the worst I have heard attached to any property beyond Star Trek: Discovery. It perhaps even rivals how terrible that is. It either makes the characters insufferable or so hard to suspend disbelief over that you can’t accept them.

The first episode begins with how much self-pity and guilt Lara is wallowing in. The show believes self-destructive behavior can be best summed up with a pointless fist fight for fun against some random opponent. Considering the people in the opening that cost Roth, a close associate of Lara, his life were going to kill her and were not above physical violence what did she expect to be able to do? Why is she having so much trouble dealing with it?

Every episode she is wallowing in her emotional pain. I understand needing it to be a connecting thread to the story but it’s all she does. Large swaths of each episode get taken up with her going on about it and somebody trying to get her over it. Fifteen minutes worth of a 30 minute episode are about Laura Croft moaning about something.

Too many writers believe wallowing in your personal pain is some sign of strength. Being ruled by your motions is not strength. Being in charge of your emotions is. Stepping up to the challenge when you otherwise would not is strength. Breaking down every couple of minutes for a good cry is not a strong female character.

Her friends talk like they want to comfort her but repeatedly come down on her for her feelings. They are the least comforting comforters in human history. “We love you and want to help you but you’re being a jerk. Grow up!”

There are aspects that are hard to believe even in something that is supposed to be an Indiana Jones/James Bond hybrid. Like having dozens of priceless artifacts in an empty mansion with no electricity. That means there are no security alarms. I am willing to bet any thief that steals high-end merchandise would do a little research first. All things being equal given what she does and what happens in the series this seems like an element of convenience to keep the story within the eight 30 minute episodes.

A thief steals an ancient box we see in the opening scene and Lara is completely clueless on what it contains. She had no idea what she and Roth were after? In the intervening time she never checked it out? Then again she sneaks around a theme park in China like she is raiding a tomb so intelligence is not strong in this show.

For a strong female character Lara often gets bested by men or simply defers to them. I know this is set early in her career but where does the inner strength or adventurous spirit the character is known for come from?

They work hard to imply Camilla Roth, the daughter of man that died, is a former love interest of Lara. They push it as far as they can without actually saying they were lesbian lovers. Them being lesbian lovers is fine, but the fact that you don’t outright say it is really annoying. It’s like they were afraid to put people off, but really wanted to do this.

Not once am I convinced that the series’ villain Charles Devereaux embraces his stance on anything. They do a poor job of convincing the audience his heart is in it. That’s important for a villain. And if they can’t communicate that they can’t communicate much of anything. He is an angry contrarian doing it because he keeps getting told not to do so.

He is trying to reunite these magical stones left on Earth by the gods. Apparently spreading them across the planet was seen as a much better idea than taking them back to the much closer for those spreading them home of the gods. That makes no sense. When they were originally separated the people knew how dangerous they were so rather than return them to beings that could handle them they decided it was a good idea to sprinkle them to the four corners of the Earth.

From an action perspective it’s good. But with a villain that doesn’t feel like he really cares about what he’s doing to characters that are obnoxious to insufferable doing things that don’t make sense it isn’t that good. It’s not a complete waste of time but it feels like a halfhearted attempt.

If there is a flaw in the action it comes when Lara Croft is dispatching armed individuals that are armed with guns by using a bow and arrow which is vastly more cumbersome. She does not receive her signature sidearms until the final episode, and now that I think of it I’m not sure how much she actually uses them then.

Whether or not you like Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft depends largely on what your Lara Croft is. Is she the newer one or the classic version? I greeted this with a bit of a shrug. It’s slightly better than Terminator Zero but that’s not hard to do. I can’t recommend this though.