Second ‘Tomb Raider’ trailer adds welcome backstory to all the action
Our first look at the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot was tonally all over the place, mixing the earlier Angelina Jolie films’ goofy action with the more serious emotional heft of the critically-acclaimed newer Tomb Raider video games. Thankfully, the second trailer leans far more of the former, giving us some propelling motivation and backstory that raises the stakes (an evil organization is planning some evil! The unhinged villain has a grudge against her family!) so we can, y’know, care about the film.
If you played the 2013 Tomb Raider game (itself a reboot of the series) and follow-up Rise of the Tomb Raider, you’ll recognize their influence in the new trailer. Not just the extensive bow-and-arrow action, either: While Angelina Jolie played Lara Croft as a Jane Bond-meets-Indiana Jones globetrotting adventurer, Alicia Vikander embodies a much greener but determined heroine. Also a very durable one, as she endures nature’s beatdown and emerges a bold yet grimy survivor, which mirrors the new games’ overarching theme. (Destiny’s Child’s Survivor playing in the background is far from subtle.)
Tomb Raider is directed by Norwegian Roar Uthaug and written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and also stars Daniel Wu (Into the Badlands), Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained) and Dominic West (The Wire, 300). The film arrives in theaters on March 16th.
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