With word of a Tomb Raider movie reboot stretching far back as 2013, fans have had plenty of time to ponder whether the new film will go the way of the Angelina Jolie vehicle of the early aughts or eke out a path all its own. Now, it looks like we finally have an answer: Roar Uthaug, a Norweigian director who signed on with the project back in November 2015, has officially stated that the new movies will be based on the backstory of Lara Croft from the latest iterations of the game series, rather than the Lara Croft of the late '90s and early-to-mid 2000s.
"I think making Lara Croft feel like a real human being, that's definitely something we want to bring to the big screen as well," Uthaug said of the adaptation's protagonist, explaining his decision in an exclusive interview with IGN. "I think we'll want to make people relate to Lara as a character. I'm hoping to bring some of my Norwegian sensibilities to the franchise."
If the success of the games in the rebooted franchise (Tomb Raider and its sequel, 2015's Rise of the Tomb Raider) is any indication, Uthaug's origin story choice is a good one. Over at the Mary Sue, Becky Chambers wrote that the female treasure hunter of the '90s, whose name grew to be "synonymous with video game cheesecake" due to the gradual emphasis on her looks over her characterization, has been resurrected at last. Inasmuch to this, she's portrayed in the new game as a complex woman with agency, on par with a character like Lisbeth Salander of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie series:
"This is not the Lara Croft of old. That Lara was a treasure hunter, a bored rich girl who saw archaeology as a sport, who reacted to charging monsters with a raised eyebrow. Her successor is a devoted scholar — a history geek if ever there was one — resourceful, empathetic, and yes, very much afraid. But worry not, this is Tomb Raider's masterful trick: It manages to show Lara as frightened and vulnerable without ever taking away her power. Her fear is not weakness. It's humanity. [...] She didn't need me to push her along. She was the one pulling me."
Uthaug expressed echoed sentiments as a fan since the first Tomb Raider game came out in 1996.
"I've always been a fan of strong female characters," he added, "and I think I've had strong female characters in all my previous movies, so that's something I thought was interesting."
For those who haven't played the Tomb Raider reboot, here's the official synopsis of the game via Square Enix:
"Featuring epic, high-octane action moments set in the most beautiful hostile environments on earth, Rise of the Tomb Raider delivers a cinematic survival action adventure where you will join Lara Croft on her first tomb raiding expedition as she seeks to discover the secret of immortality."
Tomb Raider is scheduled for a 2017 release.
Source: IGN
