With a very interesting screenwriting choice…
Hey kids, remember Tomb Raider 2018?
You’d be forgiven if you didn’t.
Though the cinematic reboot of Lara Croft got some things right – it looked alright, the story took inspiration from the recent run of video games, and Alicia Vikander proved strong casting – it ultimately failed to escape the dreaded video game adaptation curse.
Our own Rory Cashin wasn’t too impressed, noting that while the actors – Vikander, in particular – gave it their all, the screenplay made a crucial error:
“Video games almost entirely consist of a player controlling a single character through various locations.
“Often they’ll be shooting bad-guys, sometimes they’ll cross paths with someone else who they’ll have an in-game conversation with, but 99% of the time, it is a single person, heading in a singular direction, by themselves.
“For the majority of the new Tomb Raider movie, just like the last two Tomb Raider movies, just like every other movie based on a video game, the lead character is lumbered with supporting characters, as the writer or producer or director fears that an audience cannot cope with the idea that a character being alone for any amount of time.”
Tough, but fair enough in the end.
Will the lessons be learned for round two? We’re going to find out.
According to Deadline, MGM and Warner Bros. have confirmed that a sequel is moving forward, with Amy Jump on board to pen the script.
Jump is an interesting choice for the material, given her work to date in the form of Free Fire, Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England, and High-Rise, all made alongside director Ben Wheatley.
A huge Hollywood blockbuster franchise effort is another world entirely, but Jump has shown a penchant for sharp writing, memorable characters and set pieces both brutal and inventive.
With that in mind, perhaps that cookie-cutter video game to big screen curse can finally be lifted.
Deadline notes that Vikander is a fan of Jump, so it all sounds fairly harmonious thus far.
Can it break the original’s $275 million worldwide take? Will it be any use? No release date as of yet, but here’s hoping…
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