Deadline has reported that MGM has tapped Misha Green to write and make her feature directorial debut helming the next Tomb Raider, which has Alicia Vikander set to reprise her role as Lara Croft. Green is best known for creating and directing HBO’s Lovecraft Country.
It is exciting that Misha Green will be given the chance to direct such a big franchise, and while I wasn’t a fan of the previous film, I’m hoping that this new installment will be less “daddy issues”-focused. Alicia Vikander is certainly talented and has committed to the physicality of the role, but now, let’s allow her some of the snark and fun.
The most recent incarnation of Tomb Raider in the games has been more focused on Lara as a survivor, in a constant state of being terrified, angry, stressed, and battling PTSD. As a gamer, it is meant to create a more immersive, empathetic experience for the players. That doesn’t stop it from being an exhausting experience. That being said, with the darker themes, there is an opportunity to address something about Tomb Raider that has always lingered right below the surface: colonization.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the third game in the current series, it is revealed that the big bad, Dr. Dominguez, killed Lara’s father because he was going to reveal the Hidden City and his people to the world as a great historical discovery, despite him begging Dr. Croft not to, for fear of how it would upend the culture of his people. One of the most frustrating parts is how Lara attempts to twist this around, with no real understanding of what Dominguez means due to her quest for revenge—at least, until the end.
Misha Green is under no obligation to infuse all of that into her sequel. After all, maybe she wants to just make a really good puzzle/adventure movie, and that’s totally fine with me. However, at least with this being the subtext in the games, no one can accuse her of trying to turn Tomb Raider into an SJW narrative if she does include it because—haha—the game developers are already kind of doing that.
More importantly, I hope the new Tomb Raider sequel will be a fun experience because, in the end, we have very few female action movies were women are not just hyper sexualized for no reason. I have no issue with Lara wearing a sexy gown or even engaging in some seduction, but I want to see her in control. Manage the dark elements with the fun, because this isn’t a game—it’s a movie. And despite what the many Batman films would have you think, we do not need any more brooding rich kids on revenge quests without levity breaks.
I promise.
(via Deadline, image: Warner Bros.)
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