Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft 2025 Tv Show Review
Listen. I didn’t grow up as much with the first generations of the Tomb Raider games as other reviewers did I’m sure, having only played Tomb Raider: Underworld, and the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, and maybe that’s why I liked this show so much. I really loved every bit of it; the animation was for the most part stunning, I loved the voice acting, and the fact that it was a continuation of the last trilogy with returning supporting characters (Jonah!!).
Was it excessively gimmicky? Yes absolutely. But it’s an animated show based on a pretty gimmicky video game series, so I really wasn’t expecting anything less than this, and in fact I hoped for it. There’s plenty of suspension of belief needed, but that’s also true for most of the videogames; I’m an archaeologist myself, which says enough I think, and there’s plenty of times in the games themselves where Lara makes impossible jumps or survives getting mauled by predators, for everyone complaining about that. That’s part of the fun, though, at least for me, and this series continued that very much, walking the line between history and mythology.
Plenty of people have complained that Lara changed from a stoic badass into a crybaby and honestly? The series does a pretty good job of showing her struggle with grief and guilt, and showing her as a full rounded character rather than just a cool woman running around shooting bad guys. It’s precisely what I’d hoped from the show, since there’s much more space for character development than in a video game, and the focus on her unresolved feelings from the events from the first game of the latest trilogy was both unexpected and very welcome. Next to a classic tomb raider adventure, this series was also very much an in depth character study, with still plenty of humour, references to the games, and action scenes to keep it going.
Considering the other reviews, I would be surprised if this show continued, but I really hope it does. If you really loved the latest game trilogy, are invested in the character of Lara herself, and don’t mind a bit of silly ness, I cannot recommend this enough.
