Video game franchises have joined blockbuster movies in the practice of constantly rebooting themselves, with Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider getting the biggest makeover to the core, dungeon-exploring gameplay that was prevalent in the ’90s. The current Tomb Raider is a gritty survival simulator that combines puzzle solving and high-risk spelunking with great success. The movie looks to build on that concept.
Now that we’re decades past the bizarre Super Mario adaptation, it seems like the filmmakers understand that a hit game might be doing something right with its art direction and plot. So here we have Alicia Vikander in Tomb Raider, which looks to be one of the most faithful game-to-movie adaptations ever. From what we’ve seen in the trailers, the movie feels spot-on in tone and style, to the point that this side by side of the 2013 reboot and the upcoming movie looks like the Warner Bros. production is a fan film. A really expensive fan film.
The only questionable thing about the current crop of Tomb Raider games is how Lara is able to survive through multiple wounds that would kill a regular human with no problem. Also, how is she able to avoid infection? Hopefully, those great mysteries will be answered when Tomb Raider releases on March 16th.