Though a PR blunder threatened to spoil the surprise, late last night, Warner Bros. and IGN dropped the high-octane first trailer for Tomb Raider, the latest video game movie adaptation to tumble off Hollywood’s production line.
But whereas previous game-to-screen renditions have strayed off the beaten path, Roar Uthaug’s starry actioner remains fairly loyal to its source material, which in this case is the rebooted Crystal Dynamics video game series that began life in 2013. Held up as a spectacular rebirth for the iconic Lara Croft – replete with cinematic set-pieces and intense survival gameplay – Warner and Uthaug are gunning for a similarly jaw-dropping take on the video game legend, even if last night’s reveal trailer left much to be desired.
A clichéd plot (“the fate of the world rests in your hands!”) coupled with uninspired special effects had some viewers questioning whether this Tomb Raider redo is even necessary, particularly when you consider how Assassin’s Creed, another game-to-movie adaptation with lofty ambitions, was torn to pieces by critics late last year. Still, that’s the glass-half-full estimation. Besides, what we saw yesterday evening wasn’t quite indicative of the final product – at least in terms of VFX.
And now, to coincide with last night’s reveal, Warner Bros. has now completed the one-two punch by rolling out a behind-the-scenes featurette, one in which the Oscar-winning Vikander recounts what it was like to become Lara Croft.
Said she:
“I remember playing [Tomb Raider]. I hadn’t seen a girl as the lead character in a video game before, [but] she was extremely fierce, determined and capable.”
Tomb Raider swings into theaters on March 16th, 2018, when the “fate of humanity” will seemingly rest in the scarred, muddied hands of Alicia Vikander’s Lara Croft. Also on board for the ride are Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Dominic West and Hannah John-Kamen (Ready Player One, Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Lara’s college roommate, Sophie.
