Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Review: Disappointing and Soulless

Taking place after the events of the Survivor trilogy (Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider) of the Tomb Raider video games by Crystal Dynamics, the animated series follows Croft after facing a heartbreaking loss and abandoning her friends to live a life of solitude. Unfortunately, when an ancient Chinese artefact gets stolen from Croft Manor, she must return to her roots to stop the man from causing unprecedented havoc before it’s too late.

The series has 8 episodes, each with a runtime of around 30 minutes.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Review

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is nothing if not nostalgic. Bringing back characters, traps, places, equipments and many other things from the Lara Croft games, especially from the Survivor trilogy, the series will make you smile whenever you spot something from the games, which the creators have made sure to sprinkle in generously. As a result, viewers can’t be too mad while watching this rather mellow retelling of Lady Croft’s adventures… at first.

I am a huge fan of the Tomb Raider franchise and thus an animated series felt nothing but an exciting prospect. As mentioned previously, it’s hella nostalgic, leaving me to reminisce about playing the games as familiar events and characters popped up. However, that’s about as many good things I can say about the series. The storyline is surprisingly eventless and boring, having nothing that truly binds you to it.

Although we jump from one beautiful location to another, there’s very little happening here that we haven’t already seen in the games or even in the Angelina Jolie film. The series regurgitates many of the same things and feels slow and boring as a result. This also turns into a very odd supernatural-themed series that is not based on realism. I mean, sure, Lara hunts for treasures in tombs and ruins but they don’t have supernatural elements to them. Most of it has some realistic, scientific backing that makes the adventure so engaging and thrilling. However, this particular storyline this time seems wonky and unbelievable, taking away the thrill of the adventure.

I also found the characters to be really lacklustre and oddly forgettable, so much so that the creators also mostly forget about them. Croft herself is an emotional mess this time around and gets a bit annoying after a while. She constantly loses the people close to her in one way or another and immediately after we forget all about them, as if they never existed. It’s really odd. The ones who do stay alive are given so little material that they seem to not exist beyond their need to help Lara uncover this massive secret. The plot meanders so often that these characters seem lost within it as well. It doesn’t help that the animation is thoroughly grating and forgettable and leaves much to be desired.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is a silly and forgettable watch that seems to cater to children more than adults. The series lacks the charms of the game franchise and is confusing to watch. The emotional journey Lara goes through gets a little all-consuming at some points and the adventure doesn’t stick either. As I said, this might be interesting and investing for children, but adults who have been long-time fans will find this nothing but nostalgic fan service and a half-baked way to get eyes to notice. It’s truly disappointing.

Also Read: Temurun Review: Predictable Plot with an Interesting and Somewhat Unexpected Ending