Here’s a fun fact: did you know that it was Angelina Jolie who changed the nature of celebrity appearances at Comic-Con? Before she masterminded a huge appearance at the 2002 Comic-Con to promote Lara Croft, most celebrities went out of their way to avoid Comic-Con appearances. Jolie leaned into it though, and she bought herself and the film thousands of dollars’ worth of free media. After her appearance, there was a fundamental shift in how celebrities promoted their comic-book or video-game-based movies.
All of which to say… I sort of liked Angelina as Lara Croft, and I didn’t hate those films either. The plots made little to no sense and much of CGI work has not aged well. But I still associate Lara Croft with Jolie, and I still think Angelina benefits overall from the popularity of the character. But Jolie left Lara behind years ago, and of course Hollywood wanted to reboot the franchise with someone younger and… um, smaller and less busty. OG Lara was quite curvy. But I guess the video game Lara has been rebooted too, and New Lara is smaller and less curvy. Enter Alicia Vikander! Vikander chose to become the New Lara immediately following her Oscar win for The Danish Girl. They filmed it last year and here are the “first images.”
In these first-look images, see Alicia Vikander take on the role made famous first in the video-game series and then in the two films starring Angelina Jolie. But this version of Lara comes with a new backstory, and a new motivation for her adventures: seven years after the disappearance of her father, 21-year-old Lara has refused to take the reins of his global business empire, instead working as a bike courier in London while taking college classes. Eventually she becomes inspired to investigate her father’s disappearance and travels to his last-known location: a tomb on an island somewhere off the coast of Japan.
As the official plot description puts it, “Suddenly, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Lara, who—against the odds and armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit—must learn to push herself beyond her limits as she journeys into the unknown. If she survives this perilous adventure, it could be the making of her, earning her the name tomb raider.”
“When I was asked to take on this role I got really excited—Lara Croft is a truly iconic character,“ Vikander told Vanity Fair via e-mail. “I think people can identify with her for lots of different reasons, but for me I very much see her as a model for many young women. She’s trying to carve out her place in the world and connect her future with her past. She also has a fantastic mix of traits—tough, smart, vulnerable, plus she’s kick ass! She is also uniquely different to other characters I have taken on previously. It’s a lot of fun trying to get into Lara’s head and the challenge of getting to grips with such a physical role is an element of this project that I find an absolute thrill.”
[From Vanity Fair]
I get that they’re trying to go for an “origin story” for this reboot, but really? She works as a bike courier? Lara Croft is, like, a rich hipster who inherited a stately English estate but chooses to fake-slum-it as a bike courier in denial about all of her daddy’s secrets? Ugh. Also, I consistently find it interesting that Angelina Jolie was just 25 years old when she filmed the first Lara Croft, and she played her as that age or a little bit older. Alicia is 28, playing a 21-year-old. Hm. Last thing: I don’t think Lara’s British accent will be a problem because Alicia speaks English with a very posh – almost Queen Elizabeth-like – British accent.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Warner Bros & MGM.
Source: celebitchy.com
1 total views, 1 views today