Alicia Vikander may not have been the most obvious choice to take over the role of Lara Croft in a rebooted Tomb Raider. She's mostly known for dramatic period pieces like the recent flop Tulip Fever, or better received ones like Anna Karenina and The Danish Girl. But lately she's been branching out with roles in Jason Bourne and The Man from UNCLE, and it seems to be paying off based on Tomb Raider's debut trailer.
Fifteen years have passed since Angelina Jolie last brought the character to the screen, and it's clear this new version is very different. Vikander's is based on the most recent update of the video game, and a lot has changed from her background to the outfit. Where are the butt hugger shorts that use to drive adolescent gamers wild? The official synopsis also clues us in on another variation from the original, that Lara is a 21-year-old bike messenger with no direction in life. We sure this isn't Premium Rush redux?
Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now a young woman of 21 without any real focus or purpose, Lara navigates the chaotic streets of trendy East London as a bike courier, barely making the rent, and takes college courses, rarely making it to class. Determined to forge her own path, she refuses to take the reins of her father’s global empire just as staunchly as she rejects the idea that he’s truly gone. Advised to face the facts and move forward after seven years without him, even Lara can’t understand what drives her to finally solve the puzzle of his mysterious death.
Going explicitly against his final wishes, she leaves everything she knows behind in search of her dad’s last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. But her mission will not be an easy one; just reaching the island will be extremely treacherous. 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.
Nordic director Roar Uthaug (The Wave) is at the helm, with Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Hannah John-Kamen, and Dominic West co-starring. Tomb Raider opens March 16th 2018.
