Esquire
"I hate tombs." That's the great joke that ends Reuters's video story (above) on the new Lara Croft featured in the Tomb Raider game being released Tuesday (the first in the franchise to get a "Mature" rating). Gone are the '90s braid and self-possessed poise and ridiculous wealth. This Croft is 21 years old and fragile and looks slightly more realistic. (Though, wow. Yeah. She still looks pretty great.) Though it's being touted as a complete reinvention of the character, this new iteration is what's commonly known in the rebooting-of-franchises game as an origin story. Or, How Lara Croft Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Tombs and Zip-Lining. It appears to involve lots of crying and slipping through dank outdoor spaces.
But Lara has been evolving her whole life. Tweaks have been made to her various body parts and lifestyle choices; Angelina Jolie put a fur coat on and made the character more regal (and droll) than previously thought possible. Here's a look back at Lara Croft through the years and her most notable moments. Especially the shark punch.
Original Lara Croft (1996)
Or, when her back was almost always facing you and you relished any
other angle. It's worth pointing out that the original video game was hard. It involved attempting to jump on awkwardly rendered vector surfaces for hours, to no avail. At least for me.Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (1999)
The graphics didn't change much in three years. Still lots of awkward
vectors. But one good question is why Lara keeps such long hair given
her line of work. Is it because, tied into its signature braid, her hair
is a valuable weapon? Or is it just because when she finally lets
loose, at the end of the day, she likes it?Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Lara Croft was crying out for a movie, but it was heavenly fate that
she ended up being played by Angelina Jolie. Not enough credit is given
to how well Jolie does I-don't-give-a-fk British heiress. There's one particularly memorable scene
in which she flies around her house in a harness while being shot at by
automatic weapons. In her pajamas. Critics squawked, afraid to admit
how much fun they had.Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (2003)
Lara caught up on the Cure's back catalog during the passing of the
new millennium. She has sunglasses and a black top. She's wicked, but
also good.Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
This is the height of Tomb Raider badassery. Angelina Jolie punches a shark, then hitches a ride on its fin to safety. Let me reiterate: Angelina Jolie punches a shark.Tomb Raider: Legend (2006)
Tomb Raider was still selling well this point, but Lara's
proportions and shtick had gone past camp and were now just ridiculous
in an uncool way.Tomb Raider: Underworld (2008)
Underworld sold about half as much as Legend, and now the game seemed like an obvious accompaniment to the latest swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated. This is video-game Lara at her most bombshell.Tomb Raider (2013)
Cue the origin-story reboot. Lara is "vulnerable." She curses, but not too much. She holds a bow and arrow, in what seems to be a vague and maybe shameless nod to Hunger Games and Brave. She does not yet have the confidence to easily punch a shark. She will have to find her way through the jungle, and come out the other side a new woman. She is forced to "kill another human for the first time," in a scene that prompted some controversy about a possible portrayal of sexual assault. All of which is to say in the new Tomb Raider life gets pretty real. Critics seem to like the game. If video games are your thing, then maybe you will, too.
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Hollywood.com
The New Lara Croft: 5 Stars Who Could Replace Angelina Jolie in ‘Tomb Raider’
By: Leanne Aguilera
Before Katnis Everdeen picked up a bow and arrow in The Hunger Games or Beatrix Kiddo sliced men to shreds in Kill Bill, there was one badass who helped paved the way fierce females everywhere: Lara Croft.
Angelina Jolie’s interpretation of the videogame heroine in 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its 2003 sequel, introduced the sexy, self-sufficient character to a wider audience. Men wanted her and women clearly wanted to be her — remember how many gun-weilding Crofts you saw running around on Halloween circa 2002?
RELATED: Angelina Jolie to Direct WWII Flick
Now that the ass-kicking character has been nipped and tucked in preparation for her new cyber quest — don't worry, she's still a busty, hot, braided brunette, just a little more vulnerable, a little darker, a little more human — we’re already looking forward to the inevitable big screen revival. Come on, we all know it’s only a matter of time before the powers-that-be in Hollywood recycle the idea into 3-D cinematic adventure.
Since Jolie currently has her hands full with other action-packed flicks like Maleficent and Salt 2 — not to mention raising a small army of children — we decided to start the hunt for her successor as the boot-clad, braided heroine. Here are five actresses we think are worthy successors to Jolie's gaming legacy:
RELATED: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Will Marry ‘Soon’
1. Emilia Clarke:
Three words: Mother. Of. Dragons. Clarke already portrays the epitome
of a badass as the fire-immune leader/khaleesi of the Dothraki — the
most ruthless and bloodthirtsty warriors in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Plus, she's already spent the night in the middle of a freaking bonfire
while dragons hatched around her, so shooting a few villians in a cave
would be a walk in the park.
2. Naya Rivera:
If you don’t think this sing-songy actress belongs on our list of
Croft-worthy contenders, then you clearly have not seen an episode of Glee.
Rivera’s fiery alter ego, Santana Lopez, can terrify and intimate
anyone with just an icy glare or subtle furrowing of the brow. Add in
the fact that she’s perfected how to break necks with her verbal
bitch-slaps and we may have found our first tomb raider who can defeat
all her opponents without lifting a single perfectly polished finger.
3. Jessica Chastain: After witnessing Chastain’s undeniably flawless acting as the passionate yet persistent CIA agent in Zero Dark Thirty
we think it’s time that she had a fun role to play around with. After
playing a woman being terrorized by a grieving mother-turned-ruthless
demon in Mama, it would be a nice respite for Chastain to run around and let her inner badass shine on screen yet again.
4. Evangeline Lilly: For six seasons, we watched Lilly run around that godforsaken island on Lost
facing everything from smoke monsters to time travelers — and she
looked fabulous the entire time. Plus, we're positive that Lilly could
channel Kate Austen's fugitive background and create a uniquely exciting
new Lara.
5. Kristin Kreuk: This CW darling is hiding some serious badassery behind those hazel eyes: The former Smallville leading lady, who now plays a charismatic NYC cop in Beauty and the Beast,
frequently performs her own stunts. She has a purple belt in karate,
for pete's sake. Plus, she already starred in a videogame-to-movie
adaptation, 2009's Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.Lara Croft is going to be on a lot of screens around the world today... Happy @tombraider launch day!
— ComingSoon.net (@comingsoonnet) March 5, 2013
