The Tomb Raider franchise has seen its share of movie adaptations, but Netflix finally brought the world a compelling series with Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, an anime series.
A New Tomb Raider Series
This Netflix anime series acts as a sequel to the Crystal Dynamics reboot trilogy. Lara Croft is the focus, returning home after an earlier adventure left a friend dead! What makes it exciting is this isn't just an adventure game with another epic raid! Instead, it is a chance for Lara to come to terms with her emotions and really show just how deep and empathetic she really is!
This new animated adventure uses the animation talents of Powerhouse Animation, a studio well known for bringing great animation and style! They previously animated Castlevania, Skull Island, and even the latest iterations of "Masters of the Universe." This studio really gave the adventure its special and powerful visual impact, making "Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft" one of Netflix's best!
Lara Croft's Arc
Fans love Lara, and treasure hunter stories abound, what stands out is this character. It’s Lara’s character arc! There’s always a problem when treasure hunter shows fail! So much effort gets put into the story and amazing set pieces that the lead character falls to the side. But that’s not true here.
Tasha Huo, the developer behind the show, really showed how important this arc would be in Lara's history as she returns to deal with some truly serious moments from the past and this journey becomes a core component. While fans would expect Lara to become the fully seasoned explorer and adventurer that fans have come to know and love. She is shown as she tries to overcome the past, and make peace.
There was this feeling as Lara Croft took on the past, in this series. That the games, truly captured this feeling for Lara's development in their unique way, which makes this story truly feel very satisfying.
It even gets to delve deeper. Into Lara as she shares the same core value as Devereaux. This villain isn't a cookie cutter, mindless antagonist. We see his motives. He isn’t evil for being evil; there is this history. Showing Lara tries her best to prevent someone she’s getting close to from making bad choices.
Powerful Animation
What truly sets "Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft" apart? Well, it isn't just the story and character. The way that Powerhouse Animation used its animation style is breathtaking!
What's awesome about the animated segments? It does so much to really bring the action scenes to a unique new level! Even scenes that included fast cars, to those big clashes against the supernatural, really brought a feel and look to Lara's unique style!
Even more so! The amazing tombs look as amazing and spectacular as if they were ripped out from the games. With the fantastic colors. There's plenty to admire from this studio and really helped make this game a hit with audiences. Fans have so much more that’s really special because of the ancient moments from different cultural areas and ancient texts, where Powerhouse Animation also changed its animation to match! What does this mean for audiences? The Chinese-styled moments that feel truly powerful and well done.
Following A Formula:
While Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft brings some fantastic and original stories! The anime show sticks pretty close to a recognizable path and might appear a bit too safe, meaning that despite its greatness and awesome animation there might just be moments where viewers guess correctly just what's about to happen next.
It's a classic and Devereaux's development is super compelling! He has an inspiring backstory and fans get to follow along as Lara does what she can to stop Devereaux and keep everyone safe!
It was worth noting, too that these events have major impacts on those who follow Lara Croft. She truly has this big opportunity to overcome her history and do great things. Even if fans wish it did something that’s bolder it looks like it sets itself up as something that should help bring a lot of new attention to Lara for fans of all eras. The new movie has lots of thrilling action with the same Lara Croft and does this great job! Hopefully this means that this isn't the last time that we get to see this talented, amazing explorer back for another awesome animated series.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is now showing on Netflix with 8 episodes!
