TOMB RAIDER: The Legend of Lara Croft. Wouldn’t it be better to play the old games or make a new one?

The gaming studio Crystal Dynamics, known for holding the rights to the Tomb Raider franchise, along with DJ2, Powerhorse, and Square Enix, decided to create an animated film instead of a new video game in the series. Any industry expert knows these studios and is aware that they are professionals, both in producing animated films and in developing narratively complex video games. Available on Netflix, “Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” is a detailed, action-packed, and engaging sequel to “Shadow of the Tomb Raider”, and more broadly, a continuation of the Survivor series, following the young adventurer as she attempts to solve a new mystery involving Chinese boxes containing powerful (or rather, cursed) stones. Everything seems to be in order, so why can’t I shake this question from my head: Why do viewers need this series?

Maybe because adult animations, which “The Legend of Lara Croft” positions itself as, have never really convinced me. They have to be truly brilliant in content, like Studio Ghibli’s productions, for me to appreciate them and then accept that live-action versions would strip the story of the subtle, fantastical magic that animation provides. “The Legend of Lara Croft” tries very hard to be like those films, mixing European and East Asian culture, but its roots and mindset are firmly planted in the Western world. Not even the involvement of the well-known studio Square Enix, with whose unique games I’ve had a great time, helped here. But those were games. Even Square’s most famous series, “Final Fantasy”, never really produced a feature film that could live up to the legend of the games. It seems the creators of this series have taken a similar path, but it’s clear that there likely won’t be a second season (unless Netflix has already ordered one in advance). The adventure plot is well written, but the character personalities are too weak, and the aesthetic style isn’t refined enough. Paradoxically, this is a story that one wants to see in a live-action version, not animated. It’s great material for a miniseries. At least, that’s the opinion of someone who is hard to please when it comes to this kind of production. Moreover, I believe (and I use this word deliberately) that a live-action version would better present both the antagonist and Lara Croft’s inner struggles. The drawings, on a very basic level, block this expression, creating an uncomfortable sense of simulation – something that skilled live actors can overcome if they have the right technique.

“Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” currently consists of 8 roughly 30-minute episodes, filled with action, color, well-drawn backgrounds, and loosely, characters. From the very first minutes, the plot doesn’t give the viewer any respite, sometimes to the point that it’s hard to understand the legend and the events surrounding the Stones of Doom. It’s also worth noting that this isn’t just an adventure series. There are plenty of fantasy elements, from artifacts emitting power, to ancient monsters, to a specific kind of mental magic possessed by some characters. There’s also a theme of reshaping the world, eradicating evil, fascism, wars, and so on. All these plans, so characteristic of antagonists driven by grand ideas, lead not to evolution and improvement of reality, but to an even greater spread of evil. So, it’s hard to say that “Tomb Raider” is particularly meta or intertextual in this regard. It’s not, which is why this well-written adventure story really ought to be made into a live-action version, to allow the metaphysical layer of the plot, which is undoubtedly present but underdeveloped, to shine through. For that, a brilliant director and screenwriter would be needed, and even that wouldn’t guarantee the success of the production in terms of viewership. So, the series is in a bit of a no-win situation. It’s better to stick to the world of games if this is how it’s going to look. Nevertheless, I don’t regret watching it. I had too much fun to give “The Legend of Lara Croft” less than a 6, as that would be unfair. However, I do feel some dissatisfaction, and perhaps even disappointment. These feelings would likely be much stronger if I were a fan of adventure games, but I’m not. I’ve played them, I appreciate them, but those worlds aren’t for me because they offer too little control over the character. Plus, I’ve never been that good with manual dexterity, or had the brain-hand coordination to handle the agility elements, without which the “Tomb Raider” game series wouldn’t exist. There are fans. There are millions of them, so the system worked. Just not in my case.

So, you see that I approached the series very subjectively, with a lot of personal biases that influenced my judgment. For die-hard fans of the topic, I’ll mention that the series includes multicultural and LGBTQ references. The main character is a liberated woman, avoiding the emphasis on her sexuality, unless someone sees eroticism in high boots, arm-twisting, and the liters of blood pouring out of beaten men. The series is therefore modern in terms of worldview, full of violence, yet very puritanical when it comes to sexuality. I’m not sure I like this combination, as it feels modernly backward, just in today’s style.