“Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” Season 1 Review: Fun, But Familiar

Netflix’s recently released animated Tomb Raider series is an entertaining adventure laden with familiar tropes.

Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft returns once more to the screen in an adaptation of the beloved video game series. This time around, the adaptation is a Netflix animated series rather than a live-action movie, and actress Hayley Atwell provides the voice for the popular heroine. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is an enjoyable adventure for fans of the video game series but doesn’t bring much new to the table.

The plot follows a grief-stricken Lara, who is reeling from the loss of her mentor Roth (Nolan North). Lara is forced back into action when a man named Charles Devereaux (Richard Armitage) steals a mystical stone from her collection of previously discovered artifacts. Lara and her allies quickly learn that the stone is one of four power stones that combined will bring forth the end of the world.

Each episode follows Lara as she chases Devereaux around the world to stop him from collecting the stones and wielding them for his vengeful interests. The series’ animation is beautiful, and the action of exploring the various locales throughout the season lives up to the excitement of the games.

Lara is a compelling protagonist, and her supporting cast also has great moments. Jonah (Earl Baylon) is a crucial ally as he assists Lara on both her quest as well as her struggle with grief. Zip (Allen Maldonado) helps from afar, while providing comic relief to the journey. As is typical for the genre, Devereaux’s motivations are understandable even despite his actions potentially destroying the world.

While there is much to enjoy in each episode’s adventure, Lara reconnecting with old friend Camilla (Zoe Boyle) as they investigate the story behind Devereaux’s motivations and an amusing sequence where Lara ends up in a tourist attraction as she tries to find the correct location of a power stone are highlights.

Though the adventure and Lara’s character development are well-done, the series does fall into familiar tropes that make it appear formulaic. This is particularly evident as Deveraux falls into the typical villainous tropes, including insinuating that Lara is not that different from him. Many of the other tropes present in the series are familiar to fans of adventure stories, leading to much of the series being somewhat predictable.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is a thrilling adventure with a satisfying conclusion. Though there isn’t much about it that is ground-breaking, fans of the series will enjoy the fun moments with Lara and her supporting cast. With conflicting reports about the possibility of a second season, the decision to end the season on a cliffhanger may frustrate fans if the series becomes the latest Netflix show to be quickly cancelled.

Author: Jessica Wolff

Jessica Wolff is a graduate of Drexel University with a BS in Film/Video. She has a passion for entertainment and representation in entertainment. She currently resides outside of Washington, DC.

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