Ye, when you take away the tombs and the raiding, there’s nothing really left to the Tomb Raider franchise 😂 It would almost be comical if they weren’t destroying a franchise and a character that we love so dearly 💔
When Suzanne would rather have more crocodiles than the actual plot, you know the series has failed 😂 This was such a great watch, you are a really good reviewer! Loved this breakdown, and the bits of you reacting to the show were so much fun. I haven't seen the anime myself (even though I consider myself the biggest Tomb Raider fan in the world, hah) because I just don't care. I'm 99% sure I won't like it. The positive highlights you mentioned seemed fun though! Great video 😎 Edit: Your commentary on the so-called "touchy" subjects was so well said and handled by you. I agree completely.
I was thinking the exact same 🤣🤣 I watched a couple of reviews and also didn't think it was appealing to me. After watching this video I see that I didn't miss much.
Yep, when I want the crocodiles back, the series has taken a completely wrong turn 😂💔 Thank you so much Alex! I was really nervous about this video because I’ve never reviewed anything before and I didn’t think I had anything of value to say, but once I started talking, all this stuff just started pouring out 😂 I totally get why you haven’t watched it, as I said in the video, I don’t think I would have gotten past episode 1 if I wasn’t making this video 😅 I was also sure I wouldn’t like it, and I was right. But there were definitely scenes worth watching in the show, and it wasn’t all bad 🥰 I would suggest to watch it for those bits and fast forward through all the rest 😂 I’m so glad you thought I handled the touchy subjects well 🥹 I’m always super nervous to talk about such things, because I don’t want to upset anyone, but they were two issues that directly affect me and I feel very strongly about them. I felt I had to mention them to give a full and honest review. I’m getting better at articulating myself with what I mean, and this channel has helped a lot with that 🥰❤️
23:48 I completely agree with you... I honestly couldn't watch the anime through because it made me kind of depressed. Playing the remasters really helped me, because they're so light and carefree.
Ye I just did not appreciate that they yet again turned a series that should be fun and exciting into something that made me feel just super sad and depressed. Why do they keep doing this? 😩💔
Honestly I thought it was a very good review and very well made. Considering this was your first it was super sophisticated with 'cut scenes' of your live reactions, a real-time rant and even an easter egg Binxy bonus level. I appreciate the time and effort you put in and you now have another string to your bow 🥰
I completely agree with you, Suzanne. I really liked your comments. This isn’t the Lara we know and want. I have no idea when they’ll finally realize that…
I agree with everything what you said. I think being feminine is not a bad thing and I don't why it's portrait in that way. I always looked up to Classic and LAU Lara when I was younger I still do, I know it sounds maybe odd but she helped me grow into a confident woman. I love Reboot Lara and she has some great moments and I wouldn't want to miss her just to clarify that. I also don't like how Crystal is kind of bashing on Classic Lara...😕
Thank you! 🥹❤️ it’s been upsetting to see the hatred shown to feminine characters in recent years. How is that feminist? Feminism means you can be whoever and whatever you want to be. Lara was always the ultimate feminist just as she was. She always inspired me ❤️ so I totally get when you say you looked up to her. She was my hero when I was a child and made me determined that I would grow into such a confident and adventurous woman too 🥰 I too like reboot Lara, I just got disappointed that she had no growth or character development over the 3 games like we were promised, but I loved her in TR 2013 😍 we don’t need to bash one type of woman to uplift another. CD should know that we’ve moved on from that early 00s mindset 😕
Adding comments as I watch, "bored" and "where's the tombs!" are definitely things I said while watching. I found myself reaching for my phone and shopping on tiktok at the same time. I never do that when enjoying something I'm watching
in all TRUTH the thing that really made Lara Croft a sensation was her sexiness and feminine allure and it is the most crucial ingredient of her to dimish it in anyway takes away from her character
Glad to see your opinion on this series, Suzanne. A thoughtful analysis, indeed. Sad to see they seem to be continuing the trend of making Tomb Raider too serious. Luckily, we have the remasters, where we can fight mutants from a lost continent, an evolution obsessed scientist, or my favorite, going to an ancient Chinese pocket dimension to fight a dragon mob boss. If you ask me, they should've stuck with the original Shadow of the Tomb Raider planned ending, where Lara gets contacted by Natla, to bring the franchise full circle.
I agree with so much you said regarding the Anime. But what I agree most is, that they stripped away all her feminity and yes, sexiness. She was a beautiful, feminine and very classy yet rebellious and adventurous Lady, which made her so badass. Riding a Motorcycle while wearing an Opera Dress and high heels ? Chronicles Lara did that with a grin and we loved her for that. Man, I miss old TR, it is good we have atleast the Remasters. ...and don't get me started on the "Classic TR is bad because Colonialism and Classic Lara is only a sex object" -.-
I need to add something because Iam so tired of the way the Franchise is heading. Why are they acting like Core didn't exist and why are they acting like a Women with a larger Chest and a good body shape ( because ... idk she spents years and years of rock climbing, doing gymnastics and acrobatics, your body WILL be in Shape) and in the End it all doesn't matter, I want to play a Video Game starring a beautiful, sassy, confident Lara who LOVES what she does out of interest, not because of her daddy or trauma stuff A Women can have an Interest in sometimes because SHE simply wants to, not because a Man did it before her. Periodt.
Thank you Maloo 🥹❤️ I just don’t see what’s so bad about her being feminine? Or bad about any character being feminine? It’s like they think being feminine makes a character weak or catering to the male gaze, when feminine women just exist. It’s a very disappointing view on women in my opinion 😕💔 and I totally agree! Of course Lara would have a good body with all the gymnastics and exercise she does, and women with large chests also exist. They aren’t catering to the male gaze because they exist, they aren’t sexualised because they wear a tank top when it’s warm. These views are super harmful and I thought we had moved past them in society. Lara was so cool and badass in the classics! I always wanted to be her 😍 CD are just so disrespectful to Core, they don’t deserve the honour of being in charge of Tomb Raider 😡 Yes! They say this Lara is more feminist, but her entire personality is following in her father’s footsteps and doing what HE wanted to do. Classic Lara was a feminist icon and always will be. Women are their own person with their own desires and goals ❤️
18:01 girl I love you😭 truly that's what made me love Lara! she is a WOMAN who is beautiful sexy feminine but at the same time she can be strong and defined herself and kick asses!!!.. love the family part in the end its so cute 😭💜💜💜💜💜
I agree with everything you said. As an anime this season is like 6/10, but as a tr fan it’s 2/10. Many logical ambiguities. I finished it but I was so bored and tired and honestly? Pissed off. All those changes to her character and look hurt because that’s not the Lara we felt in love with. This character they created since 2013 and classic Lara have one thing in common - name. That’s all. F CD!!! Bonus content of binxy ❤❤❤❤❤ Overall great video. I know it took you a lot of time to record it and edit it but trust me! It was worth it!!! Thanks ❤
I just want one real answer: How is this product profitable for them with such poor production? I mean, how do they think, I want to know? Yes, suzanne does a wonderful job and we appreciate her and thank her for all the time and effort she put into these videos❤
@ tbh? I don’t think this will do any profit for them at all. We know that season 2 was confined but I think they (Cristal dynamics) just need to patch the holes in the plot. Also they don’t know how to connect the mess they’ve made with reboot with og Lara and her story. I have an ideas how they could do that but they would never do it.
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one bored out of my mind watching 😂🙈 I don’t understand why they took over Tomb Raider if they were just going to entirely change it? Just make something new then? It makes no sense. Seeing the erasure of femininity in female characters the last few years has been super hurtful. It feels anti feminist. Only one type of woman is acceptable now. Any woman who naturally has curves and bust, is catering to the male gaze. Any woman who wears heels and makeup, is not to be taken seriously. I thought we were passed judging women like this and telling them how they should be? I’m so glad you enjoyed the review though, that means a lot 🥹 and I’m so happy you enjoyed Binxy 😍❤️
Your review >>> the anime 😂 Seriously, I completely agree with you!! It was so depressing for me as well. I just have one question... Why??? How many times are we gonna see Lara cry over and over again and "# define herself" i'm seriously bored at this point. Regarding the opening, I share the same opinion as you! It was well made, felt like an actual animated video game. Lara was fun, she looked cute as well, but my heart sank when I realised "oh no it's just a flashback 😢" and everything went downhill. And I have to say, probably one of your best "talking" video you've ever made yet!! Such greatly constructed review with excellent points, loved it 😃 also, your take on femininity and Lara is spot on! 🔥 You should do more reviews! 😄 P.S.: I'm curious, what did you think of reimagined Zip? Coz I think they badly ruined him as well 😢
Awww thank you 🥹❤️ Yes it feels like the same depressing thing over and over again, and as I said in the video, it genuinely feels like just being slapped in the face over and over again 😂 The flash forward was the worst thing that could have happened 💔 Thank you so much! That’s so lovely of you to say! I put a lot of time into the video and I’m so glad to hear that it was worth it and you enjoyed it 🥹❤️ I might do more reviews in the future 🥰 I personally didn’t like the changes to Zip 😕 He was the main one I had in mind when I said the characters felt like caricatures. Zip didn’t feel like a real person to me. In the games he was very well fleshed out and helpful I think, but in the series he seemed purely there to deliver one-liners that weren’t funny. It was really disappointing 🙁 I also didn’t like Abby in the series. I liked her in the game but in this series she was just angry and rude and in a bad mood all the time 😩
I agree with you 100%. In this show she literally went backwards with all her problems that she solved with her past????? When she said “this isn’t my home” (about Croft manor) I was like wtf u literally restored your house in Rise/Shadow…It’s like who made this show didn’t play or know the story of the reboot games xD
Very interesting review! I still don't get why they won't do the original origin story of Lara: the amount of drama they could build around her parents disowning her and her relationship with them could be more interesting than this endless repeating of the newer backstory. Also your opinion on Lara and Crystal Dynamics take on her feminine qualities: i've always thought Lara teaches a good lesson: that a lady doesn't have to compromise her professionalism, or her job, or looks, she can have it all at the same time. and isn't that what everyone imagines wanting the ability to HAVE IT ALL?
Yes! Her original backstory would make for excellent drama! It’s so good! And has never been explored before. Classic Lara was the feminist icon CD are trying to make. As you said, she had it all ❤️
100% agree with you Suzanne. You shouldn't have to explain away what your likes, dislikes and preferences are. People only want to hear their opinions come out of your mouth it seems (such as the world now). I can't quite remember who said this quote: "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there". Keep up the great vids 👍
I'm so glad you mentioned about the Irish history with the British, because it is still to this day a touchy subject with people & whilst we carry on with our lives that bitter past will always exist, but we make due with what we have now. Also you really cemented home the fact that Irish people are "not british" and it's 100% true when people refer to us as British it's pure ignorance, we never have been nor will we ever be British. In fact it's probably the biggest insult you can say to an Irish person 😅 anyways I really enjoyed your review suzanne. Keep up the great work on your channel.
3:28 Definitely not just you, I'd love to be a passenger on his plane too, Lara is one lucky girl :D ! 😅 I totally agree with you, the show had it's moments of brilliance, but it also brings me to a conclusion... all those moments of greatness are inspired by something from the past, just cause of how quintessential (sp? 🙃) it is to Lara's character, it is carefree, somewhat fantastical, surrealistic, adventurous, crazy, in a way separated from the reality. Why are they trying to alternate her character so much to the point it doesn't feel like it's Lara's adventure anymore I will never understand, Lara has never been the source of "realism", it was always about myths, legends, powers out of this world, incredible, over the top action. I did enjoy some bits of the anime and... in the end I will still watch the 2nd season, cause I'm just curious to see if they will get past the hurdles of writing whack character development for Lara and will finally turn her into this heroine capable of anything and everything that we've always known and loved ! Like if I want emotional, depressing and realistic characters and scenarios Lara wouldn't and should never become the source of that, I'd rather go to some The Last of Us or whatever. 10:15 Totally agree with you ! We're essentially expecting Fast and Furious (just how the show led us on with the opening and how it rightfully should have played out), but we're getting "Therapist needed in aisle 7" all the way throughout the show... another problem with that... they have been milking this plot for 3 games, a movie and now an anime... like why LARA out of everybody seems like the most troubled and depressed being on the planet ?! She is finally supposed to be the opposite, but they just don't know how to progress with her character which makes it so disappointing, it almost seems like an endless loop that we're just trapped in. Some people in charge I don't wanna say are incompetent, but they just aren't meant to write about Lara, cause she should have moved on to cooler and greater things long ago. Let's hope 2nd anime and the "unified Lara" in the new game just gets rid of this baggage and the constant need for friends... it is "Adventures of Lara Croft" not "Lara, Depression and Friends". I don't mind an occasional appearance, like Zip here and there, but this constant need for support from others takes away so much from what Lara has always been. They need to understand that Lara was always beloved but unhinged, villain-esque, heroine and nobody has ever cared how many things she put her bullets in, cause it's a VIDEO GAME. 🙃 17:38 Also I agree with you completely ! It's not about ALL women, it's not about representing ALL women, everybody can present differently, but this is LARA, she's always been extremely feminine, but also has shown the exact opposite of what media always portrays feminine women to be, she's always shown that she can kick ass, have many different interests, be well-oriented in many different disciplines, languages and just full of knowledge, something media wouldn't usually portray a feminine and conventionally pretty woman to be, just because of exactly that and according to majority of portrayals it was always the limit of what a feminine, conventionally pretty woman could be. So by stripping her down of that essence, they are just making a completely different character. They are really trying to preach acceptance but yet, they are forgetting that women can be exactly what Lara always was, capable, talented, smart but also full of curves and beauty that she's never afraid to show if she feels like it. And I don't mean here necessarily that I hate the way she looks... I just don't like the way she looks AS LARA, if she was some character in a different franchise that was presented in a similar fashion to begin with, it wouldn't have been an issue, but this feels like they found a confident woman full of beauty and curves and told her to cover up, keep crying, get depressed, never be sure of herself again and don't show ANY signs of confidence. Cause this Lara didn't necessarily display any sort of confidence, neither visually nor with her actions. In short they need to bring the fun back... it's not all that serious and it should have NEVER BECOME that serious, as you said, life is depressing as is, this is supposed to be a fun escape. Ps. love the glittery golden eye ! 😊 Very fun review ! 😊
Love me some Suzanne spilling the boiling tea 😏😏😏 I have just one question, why everybody in this anime looks HOT but Lara?! Looks like a male cosplayer 😂
Yeah I miss the vibe of OG Lara, Legend and Underworld Lara did a great job of keeping her sass and look whereas the reboot stripped her of almost all her personality that she’s known for. That image they released of supposedly the new unified Lara looks pretty good though so I’m hoping they go back to form.
I honestly think I agreed with every single point you made Suzanne. I wanted to like it so much but.....well, you already made the points so I won't repeat them again 😂 it was a miss for me too. Your review was so articulate and well explained, such a good video! Your channel never fails ❤
I watched it all and didn't think it was too bad. But I do agree they changed Lara's character and did make her look less feminine. I didn't mind CD putting a disclaimer on the Remasters but I didn't like how they worded it. Almost disrespectful to Core as you say. No Core no Tomb Raider. I really wish they'd been given more of a chance after AOD. Thanks for the review Suzanne & sharing tour thoughts & opinions.❤
I really enjoyed this video, I absolutely loved hearing what your thoughts and opinions were, for me I watched 5 mins and I couldn’t watch anymore, classic Lara will always be my favourite, I have played the reboots but they will never beat classic Lara 🥰❤️
@ I really agree when you said about the change of character, like I get that fair into it but when you was explaining it I thought, well that’s not Lara 😞 but everything you said I agree with it, it’s such a shame want they did to the series 😞
I like how colorful it is. I've been missing that in the games. They probably walked back a lot of her character development and rehashed all the depressing crap for people who didn't play the reboot games. And with Lara's character it just sounds like she's being like Not Like Other Girls. I kinda thought that whole thing was fading away where people were disparaging girly femininity to be taken seriously.
It is very colourful and beautiful ❤️ yes this messaging against everything feminine feels anti feminist to me. We’re supposed to be celebrating every type of woman and every type of person. It does feel “not like other girls” which is mocked now as being so toxic and silly. As I said in the video, it feels like by making this change, they are feeding into the very sexism they are saying they are trying to fight 🙁💔
You see that video shows to me why you are my all time favorite TR youtuber !! You nailed it. i really was looking forward that anime... i was like "omg finally a TR anime it's been ages" but gosh the dissapointment... first the feeling i got after finishing it was disgust. Disgust because i knew deep inside the core audience for that show wasn't me, at all, and i am a TR fan... which is weird. I absolutely HATE her character, the writing was overall bad. This is reboot / reboot comics recycled with the same scenarios in different places... i felt like nothing was accomplished... and the double pistols came at the END of the show, she used her bow AGAIN to fight against GUNS, lara croft using a BOW AGAIN... come on you can't go back to classic lara and make her ignore her duals come on... classic lara never used even a bow in the classic games like ever... this feels forced. The T-Rex scene felt forced and fan service... that serie was like trying to gaslight classic fans into believing it's the lara we know because outfits, 2/3 easter eggs and voilà. BUT NO. It's not. They sabotaged lara's feminity, and the main writer for that anime, Tasha, reposted a very hateful article criticizing OG lara saying she was created for the male gaze and was overall just pure sexism and awful. Like is that even serious ?? that's why they try as well to say online that she always had muscles it's normal because she is doing a lot of physical efforts... sorry but NO, i am an artist IRL, i studied anatomy... lara's body shape and structure is much more closer to a male body than a female one. There is nothing wrong having muscles or being an athlete BUT Lara never got so much muscles ever, her legs in that anime are bigger than roth on some shots... i knew about the OG lara concept by Toby, yes she did have some muscles in the arms, but that's only there, and she got curves... i hate to see them behaving like being a female with breast, curves, and feminity is wrong. I can't believe Tasha even said she was not comfortable with lara raiding tombs... that's the whole point... how someone so far from that license that never worked not even on the reboot writing can have such important bridge project into her arms ?? why ?? why does 1 writer have the right to say what's right and what isn't when it's always been the case for more than 20 years... Also lara saying she needs friends when in the actual classics she always worked alone and could handle very dangerous guys by her own... now she needs a jonah, an irrelevant SAM here again for no reasons in S2 this is really annoying and we do not evolve. No each new thing they push is to erase even more what core created. Awful era for TR. Also the art direction wasn't great to me, we got an animated webserie back then that had more artistic research and style than that show... the background was beautiful but that's all... it wasn't like great looking character wise, a lot of issues from one frame to another and you can pause sometimes and see that her face is bigger than the second frame before... her body is so large and then small... etc. I really hated that anime. also how they felt the need to change zip, like if they want to use whatever they want for their reboot and actually change it and make it sound like they always been like that... i will ignore the unification. Zip was established since 2000 with chronicle, why now is he totally different even in his attitude ? Why does Abby even help someone like lara in a tomb ? where was abby before shadow ? why does she have that role suddenly ? it's so messy... that's not tomb raider. They also ignored characters from the 2013 game... and sorry not sorry but when you really pay attention to these side characters they never even helped lara the same way she helped them... and you want to make me believe she needs them ?? okay ?? iirc it was said that the anime was created to appeal to a young audience as well... you want to make young people watch that anime and for what ?? do we forget how she brutally ends bad guys in the reboot ? how much fight and violence there is inside these games ??? Why do you target such audience ??
did you ever watch the tomb raider animated shorts? you can find them on youtube it was a compellation of various different tomb raider stories animated in different styles my personal favorite is the Ankh Osiris one and the Heart of the world in Antarctica
Thank you so much for the review, I really appreciate it! I don't have Netflix anymore so I'm not going to watch it any time soon. 😅 But I was suspecting as much - not enough Tomb Raider, to much Reboot... I had the same problems with the Castlevania Animé, it is so boring and my patience ended after four episodes. But I guess it is difficult to create a narrative around a dude with a wipe, slaying monster to rock music to get to Count Dracula... 🤣 With Lara there is so much material and they could have done so many amazing things... Well, what can you do... 😅
Emphatically nodding at everything you said. Great great video. Few things I would love to add: - Was Lara inappropriately sexualized in the past? The answer is too nuanced for a straight-up yes or no, but my sentiment slightly drifts to yes. It's mostly the marketing mischaracterizing the actual product, and it did slip sporadically into the games/movies ( TR2's ending or that weird 'romantic' moment in AOD ). But I'm baffled by how robbing her of her iconic mannerisms is the answer. There is a middle ground. My ideal characterization of Lara has always been someone who is unapologetically feminine and confident in her sexual appeal without the narrative or the camera being voyeuristic towards her and I'm not sure why they find it so hard to depict that. - As someone who also lives in a previously colonized country, I too find this new direction frustrating. A perfect example of this is Uncharted. Once the conversation around Nathan stealing artifacts has been brought up, the devs actually doubled down to the point of satire so people stopped talking. Nathan knows he is a thief, everybody around him calls him a thief, and the game is fully aware that he is a thief. Art that portrays thieves doesn't mean that said art is condoning theft. Few things frustrate me more than art that talks down to its audience. We are aware that Lara is an anti-hero and her actions are not always moral, but that's what makes her interesting. Her brashness, nonchalantness and her complete dismissal of what people think about her is what drew people to her to begin with. The point of art is to offer you an experience that you might not get in real life. - Plot-wise, my biggest gripe is that this show just didn't make too much sense in the broader context of the franchise. Rise reportedly was going to deal with Lara's trauma, but since they dropped that I assume they felt some knots were untied. I'm annoyed that everything has to be explicitly addressed in the narrative rather than implied. It feels inconsistent that Lara only feels guilt over Roth's death, despite being responsible for the deaths of presumably hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people in Shadow. My assumption is that going forward they're taking the spiritual unification route rather than an actual sequel of all the games, which will create a new timeline by itself and I'm not fond of the idea tbh. Sorry if my comment was too negative! There were some really solid Lara Croft moments here but they were stitched in a really uninspired narrative. Still holding hope for the future. ( Also binxy is so adorable ❤)
Totally agree about her femininity and portrayal! I really appreciated that in the original trilogy, Lara's appearance was very rarely mentioned in-universe (even TR2's ending was fourth-wall breaking enough that I don't really think it counts). She's a beautiful woman, but it's never treated like the most important thing about her - the most important thing about her is she's going to kick your arse. It (along with her being completely self-made without following in her dad's footsteps) felt almost transgressive back then, and is still something media struggles to come to terms with. (and it feels like some TR fans remember her portrayal in marketing and advertising as more true to her character than it was in game canon...) I like the way she's built in the anime as she's obviously very physically strong, but it'd be nice if they let Lara lean more into enjoying more feminine things, while also being very practical and pragmatic.
I was once excited for the 2013 reboot, and I still had some hope back in Shadow, but now I'm not sure. 😕 I'm a trauma survivor myself, and I find the writers trapping her in the past like this just baffling and annoying. I was looking forward to the post-traumatic growth that could mold Lara into a badass Tomb Raider, which would be super inspiring, but when will it happen? As for the colonialism, I do find it baffling to see them change a core element of an antihero while keeping the antihero name. Imagine changing Frank Castle into a hero who's 100% against unaliving criminals while still calling him "The Punisher", like what's the point? Btw, to those wondering, I'm a 1991 baby from the Philippines, a country that had been colonized *thrice,* so don't me, lol.
I honestly didn’t have high hopes for this series. Can’t say I’m surprised that they have doubled down on the surviver version of Lara. Makes me worried for future tomb raider games. Agree with you on the more touchy subjects too!
I haven't seen the anime yet, but your opinion is pretty much the same as the German UA-camr Unique Corn. She said that the story is flat and she was sad that Lara doesn't look feminine and lacks charm. Unique Corn was even annoyed that Lara wears Converse instead of high heels when she visits the opera. In her opinion, Lara has no power at all in the anime, is selfish, whiny and relies too much on the help of others. The scene in which Lara touches the Japanese women was completely incomprehensible for Unique Corn too because Lara absolutely knows better. To be honest, in my opinion this controversy over Lara has gotten out of control. Her appearance in the game is not bad and degrading to women. You adore OG Lara too. A feminine Lara is equal a strong Lara!!! Also I highly thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings about Ireland and the historical events. It's difficult for foreigners to understand. I for one hate it when people from other countries talk funny about H*tler and make jokes with him or compare current things like livestock farming with the Holocaust. Most Germans still feel guilt in some way for what happend under the N*zi regime.
I am agree with you and I would add another thing I was upset about. In this show she is constantly surrounded by men, mansplaining her all the time, questioning her decisions. Jonah is the most toxic friendship for me, cause he says he supports her but he is all the time making her cry and making her feel bad. What kind of women empowerment is that? This version of Lara is definitely a punch bag toy for the others and it's depressing and sad. Nobody want this. It's like they try so hard to make her unlikeable
I thought the same. I only made it through 1 maybe 2 episodes. I might watch the rest of the show, since seeing snippets of the other episodes you showed.
It was tough to get through! I really struggled to finish it. I had to watch it over two different days 😂 It’s worth a watch for the scenes I mentioned in this review in my opinion, but maybe you can just fast forward through all the other stuff? 😂🙈💔
I originally didn't want to watch it but I caved and gave it a go. I watched maybe 5mins and nope! I had a mix of anger and sadness. I miss the old school TR. I just don't like this Tomb Raider at all. 💔😭
Just starting the vid. I watched 3 episodes but I couldn't continue cos I just didn't like it and couldn't get into it. Shame I wanted to love it since I love tomb raider so much, but I don't think they did it justice
@@JB_Fraulein_Kunst they didn’t. They trashed her character once again…. Constant crying about father and Roth is still the topic. Her looks were great but if that’s the only good thing then….
@@ThePMMpc I'm someone who genuinely loved the remakes (the first 2 anyway, the shadow one I didn't like at all) so you'd think I'd be more forgiving. I felt like I wasn't watching Lara croft in any capacity
I don’t blame you 😂 I had to really push through this series for the sake of the video 😂 I kept checking how long was left on the episode I was watching 🙈 I so wanted to love this too. I was so disappointed 💔
I never bothered to watch it because I haven't used Netflix in a few years, and it didn't feel worthy enough to find the _alternative_ way. ☠🏴☠ I saw the writing on the wall a while ago with their "creative vision" for this rebooted franchise. They just do whatever's popular and if that doesn't work, they beat the crap out of the main character/audience both mentally and physically for... "character development"? What an adventure! They've always rubbed me the wrong way when they speak about classic Lara being sexist when their very own creation could be construed as such but it's disguised as "realism", or "relatability". (It's also hypocritical considering THEIR history with the series, as pointed out in this video. 🤣) I really enjoyed hearing your perspectives, and hearing/seeing that the anime had some nods to the classics, but I am glad to hear another classic fan reiterating the message we've all been saying for years: "We miss our leading lady!" 💔 *Edit to add:* Such a shame about Hayley's performance! I still think she would be a _perfect_ Lara if she was actually playing Lara Croft, and not CD's perpetually-depressed abomination. Maybe she'll get another shot at it with better writing in a potential second season? 😥
The very first scene-- she elaborately gains access to the hidden temple lost to history, escaping from goons, swimming etc... and then once she arrives there, the dude, whatever his name was, just strolls up out of nowhere like there was a bus stop out front. Not sure i even made it through the first episode lol
My husband also gets to listen to me complain about things he doesn’t care about. 😂 I don’t want to sound overly negative, but personally I just know I’d hate this show and never will watch it. At a certain point you get a good sense of what something is about, and I’m not going to use my limited time watching what I know will only frustrate. I’ve seen some clips on Twitter (and now more here) and I am glad I don’t care. Well, I care in so far as I wish they’d do TR justice. Instead of waste time on projects that don’t like that they’re Tomb raider products yet use the name anyway. Love your talk on femininity. It’s been irking me with a lot of media, but especially a character like Lara. It’s like those making these decisions cannot fathom a feminine woman being strong. She has to take on stereotypical masculine traits (and often flat out looking more masculine; see the Amazon in the Diablo 2 remake for a great example😭). It’s fine if you want to make a new character however you want, but don’t completely change old ones. Lara Croft was popular for a reason. There were plenty of attractive characters in that time of the first TR, but Lara is one who became an icon. It’s not just the Core Design games themselves but how they handled Lara. And CD is getting on my last nerve distancing themselves from who Lara is and what Tomb Raider is about. They clearly don’t like that she’s a raider of Tombs, that she’s a beautiful, feminine strong woman. It’s annoying. Make your own franchise then Crystal. 😒 Anyway, that’s enough ranting. Great video. Best wishes from Dobby 🐕 to Binxy 🐈⬛
When I saw when they did tomb, raider anime on Netflix, I was like so excited to see it. My opinion was it was OK like not what I was expecting, but it was OK. I just really wish they can do like more realistic and something really good stories again. But I agree with you because everything was OK about this show.
I love Haley atwell so much but her voice would have suited an older Lara more in line with the originals. Having her voice young Lara just didn't work and her voice wasn't convincing as someone meant to be in their 20s.
Hayley is over 40 years old, but there are VAs older than her who can sound convincingly younger (Tara Strong, for example, who is over 50). She just wasn't a good choice for this role, and didn't have the range to play a younger Lara.
Loved this format! Super fun 😊 And I agree, wish Lara would be more feminine just as she used to be in the previous games. Nothing wrong with that at all.
I loved your review, and I'm pretty sure it was more entertaining than the anime😅 I wasn't even curious about it, it looked quite uninteresting from the trailer, imo. You confirmed my first impressions. But really, this review is so well made, I truly loved your perspective on the various details. The fact that they changed Lara's personality and character is quite lame, I absolutely agree with your discussion on femininity.
The problem IMO stems from this "unified Lara" idea they're currently pushing. As if every iteration of Lara is equally great and referencing random bits from all of them will somehow appease every fan. Instead, it just gets messy.
@suzannetheraider. Omg i loved the bonus video of cute little binxy having treat s ham was it ? Also the part with the wire and the microphone made me 😂😅litte menace ❤😊
Good video 👏 I absolutely agree with your negative points, and for the reasons you mentioned. But I would add that the climactic T-Rex battle/dual pistols part was a massive *low* point for me. It was totally unnecessary to and disconnected from the story: where was the lead up? The foreshadowing? Non existent! It served no purpose other than to make fans like us go "ooooo!" and clap madly. That's fine for toddlers watching Blues Clues, but not when directed at Tomb Raider's YA/mature audience. This is now the third - *third* - time we've had Lara tease the twin pistols (her signature weapons on a par with Indy's whip or Vader's lightsaber), in the closing minutes: once at the end of TR 2013, once at the end of the Alicia Vikander film, and now again here. It's as though the writer(s) are scared to mature Lara's character outside her "becoming" herself, or touch upon anything that harkens back to what made her iconic before the IP passed to Crystal Dynamics. It's one thing to insert a sly Easter egg in where only repeated viewings or prior knowledge will spot it (the clue's in the name!), but it feels patronising and hollow when Easter eggs are being showcased as The Main Attraction (TM). They had an amazing opportunity with the animated series to take us beyond the confines of the game, or even a live-action film, but all we got was reheated leftovers covered in glitter. If this is the direction the unified timeline/future entries are taking, then I'll respectfully pass.
Not seen the show, but that 3yrs later scene change is a blatant steal from an Uncharted 4 flashback near game start, which was itself a blatant steal from, IIRC, Batman Begins or possibly The Dark Knight Rises. I’m only really interested in TR as a game, but I feel an animated TR is easily at least 25yrs too late. I was in awe of those OG Lara Lucozade ads especially the one set in a cavernous ancient temple with Lara chased by what seemed like demonic wolves - to me, that was the style and dynamism of what a TR animated show should be. Nor do I feel the Americans have ever really got Tomb Raider and the very British anarchic cartoony and dark punk humour of the very early Core Design games. Americans never grew up with Tank Girl, Emma Peel from The Avengers (both influences on Toby Gard’s Lara) nor comics like the Dandy or Beano where rebellious kids essentially stick up 2 fingers to authority and the establishment 😃
@@dealyboyHaha, yes, the Beano’s Bash Street Kids - where the strip shows the kids rampaging round town and scaring the adults with toy guns, while the comic also gives away a toy gun as a free gift on the cover! 🤣
THE FOLLOWING COMMENT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You have been warned, dear reader. The review was perfect, great video. I really couldn't get into this series, I didn't like the re-reboot, the stories fell flat, and the gameplay was more like Uncharted. I will say the game I played when I was six was TR I on PS1. 8:49 it turned into a scene from Uncharted 4, where Drake was beating up a cellmate Lara cries CONSTANTLY throughout the show, Her dead dad will NOT let up, and always on the lines of "I wish my father could have seen this" this Lara was born in 1992, which throws the ENITRE backstory for her out of whack, Crystal Dynamics are ERASING classic Lara and are trying to UNIFY the 3 timelines and will fail miserably, so she went after the Scion in 1996 (Classic Lara, born 14th February 1968, at the time of Tomb raider 1 she was around 28 years old), which makes this Lara FOUR YEARS OLD when she went to Peru, Greece, Egypt, and Atlantis and killed Natla AS A CHILD, no less. to me the true mentor was Werner Von Croy (SPOILER ALERT! we thought Verner died in the Iris plinth when it closes after his leg got trapped, second Level of Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation, and he went to search out Lara Croft, who he thought was dead but the emerged form the pyramid alive), not Roth, you have to read the comics to get into the 2013 game because there is SO MUCH in the comics. to me this Lara whined a lot, and calling for Jonah every 2 minutes is bad, press X for Jason (Heavy Rain Reference) the writing of this show is TERRIBLE, like; Jonah: "You're acting as if you have a death wish" Lara: "I don't" Jonah "I know" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ WHY FREAKING SAY THIS!!! no need as you can see i REALLY hate this iteration of Lara, bring back the sass who was a kick-ass chracter, not this wannabe. I'm out.
Just finished the series, and I too found it boring 😢 some great moments and lots of potential... But it mostly fell flat. Your opinions were very well explained and I appreciate you making this video. It was more entertaining than the show tbh 😂 Also, people called you British??? (*Takes out my duel pistols*) Wishing you, Frederick and Binxy a happy Christmas ☃️❄️😻
I agree with you on a lot of the points you made, especially her character being mopey and glum all the time. I know they make a comment about Jonah kind of babysitting her in this but it's true, he does (which I'm not a fan of). The OG Lara didn't need anyone holding her hand. I agree with your comments on the feminine aspect of Lara as well, she was always a femme fatale. Feminine *and* dangerous. It's fine to not the high levels of femininity in every female character, but I think what a lot of us are saying is we want to see it in *this* female character. I felt Keeley Hawes in particular really nailed both the charm and threat Lara is capable of, sliding between the two seamlessly. I'm surprised you didn't like Hayley Atwell's portrayal. Most people have said she was quite good, I thought so too. Not quite on the same level as one of the original VAs, but still decent. You do have a point with it potentially being a directing issue. As for the outfits/sexulisation of Lara you're absolutely right, whilst I personally have zero issue with the outfits I definitely acknowledge some of them can be a bit on the nose (especially in Legend/Underworld). So yes, it does feel very hypocritical when Crystal Dynamics constantly goes on about this. However, I would also argue that the CD that made LAU vs the CD that made the reboot games are two vastly different teams to the point where they might as well be different studios. So maybe not 100% hypocritical but I still think its not something to get worked up over. I think we shouldn't mind having sexy female (or male) video game characters as long as they've got personality and a fun game for them to star in. I think Steve of Warr said it best in his TR4 retrospective when discussing how they began to up Lara's sex appeal. "It's an interesting example of how marketing can directly influence the material it's promoting. Whilst it doesn't negatively affect the game in any way and certainly isn't something to get upset about, you can't help but take notice of it here." Basically I always thought of it as "I don't mind if you go down that route, just as long as the game is still good". The stealing artefacts aspect is an interesting topic to cover as well. I agree with your point on the disclaimer for the remastered games, didn't really ruin anything but it was totally unnecessary. It really felt like they were saying "We really don't like what's in this game and don't stand by it... but we'll happily take your money for it!". As for the show, I get that realistically Lara would be a thief and we wouldn't condone her behaviour, but shes not meant to be this paramount of virtue. She is a Tomb Raider. Also known as a *Grave Robber*. Yes shes stealing stuff that isn't hers to put in her own private museum, she probably doesn't care. That doesn't make her a character I don't enjoy. I've consumed media with way darker/more evil characters but they were well written and still fun to watch and even root for. And again you're right, sometimes over analysing things takes the fun out of them. I feel we need to aim more for believable rather than realism in media again. On a more general comment on the current state of Tomb Raider, I swear with all the ways in which we're seeing Lara now. Remasters, Netflix anime, Amazon show, even Fortnite... everything *except* her own game kind of tells me the people currently in charge don't know what they're doing and are just riding off the coattails of a popular IP. But maybe all this is better saved for when you play the reboot trilogy, which I'm definitely looking forwards to. Sorry for the essay but sometimes a lot of things go through your mind when analyising these things. Overall I felt the show was ok, just didn't really have anything to do with Tomb Raider. I'm sure we'll all have more thoughts once you get into the reboots or if you review the 2nd season of this show or the Amazon show. And yes I agree with your point, these are all my opinions, not facts. People are always free to agree/disagree with me! Great review, really enjoyed your thoughts on it all and would love to see this type of video again!
Now, I haven't watched the series, but I have seen snippets and clips and from what I saw even from that...I wasn't impressed. I so wanted this to be good. But I agree that they completely changed the tone of her character. Yes, characters need to have a reason to care about them, but Lara is an already established one. The source material is right there! Argh! 😂 Anyway, I liked your review! Everything was succint and well said, clear and easy. See, it's the same thing with the Star Wars shows, parts are good but as a whole, it's a disappointment, and I usually love anything Star Wars. Oh well, at least we have comparatively better Tomb Raider to look forward to 😅
Thank you for this review! Personally, I liked the show enough, but I do NOT care about her past anymore. Videogame characters do not need these relateable, sad people, and CD needed to let her dead parents/mentors go since 2013. Such a strong, identifiable character is going to waste...
@suzannetheraider. Just come across this new video of your discussion and chat about the new tomb raider Anime is it a movie or is it a tv series i honestly didn't know about it or seen it im not really into Anime but very interesting to watch wnd listen to the things you shared and how you felt about the tomb raider Anime from what i could see aswell seemed boring and yes depressing some of it looked good but overall no where as good as the tomb raider remastered+ looking forward to tomb raider 4+5+6 remastered coming in the new year i felt the Anime changed my opinion of her ❤😊
Didn't you hear? Nothing can be fun anymore. It's Netflix, everything has to be grim and dark, "adult" I never finished the series. It just came off like a crap retelling of the reboot series. Let Lara evolve ffs. The visuals were beautiful, but the animation was janky, I hated it in motion. I highly doubt this will get a season 2. And if it does, it'll be 2027. Big let down for me and reboot Lara is my favourite. This just wasn't her, or classic. Give me Jackie Chan Adventures but swap in Lara. 😅
I think you basically summed it up by saying if they're going to make these changes, don't call it Tomb Raider. I'm probably about as woke lefty as they come, but I don't think every franchise is suited to every era of social attitudes. If something has to be changed so much that it no longer resembles its original form to fit in with contemporary attitudes, then it's maybe a sign that perhaps it should be left alone. I have no problem with having a content warning at the start of the remasters - I think there are occasional moments in the Core games which have dated quite badly - but the wording of it was obnoxious, and felt like CD just getting in a dig at Core. There are so many ways an international adventurer could be portrayed without some of the older attitudes - literally just have her give the artifacts to a national museum or have her hired by local historians - without it becoming a huge issue that is an enormous tonal lurch. There were issues with oversexualisation of Lara in the '90s, but they were entirely down to Eidos's marketing, not the games, and a swerve just as far in the other direction doesn't solve the issue. There was always something great about the fact that Lara wasn't a tomboy: she had a lot of sex appeal, but didn't rely on it to be cool. And the emotional stuff carrying on from the survivor trilogy is just tedious... I didn't enjoy the roots of it in the LAU games, and it's really not welcome here. Again, it comes back to the whole purpose of Tomb Raider: it's pulpy, cartoony adventure; having occasional moments of depth can feel profound, but focusing on angst just makes it feel like an entirely different thing. So again, why not do something new like that rather than trying to call it Tomb Raider? My feelings are that the people in charge of Tomb Raider don't actually care much about it beyond being a name that sells. I understand - and even agree with the reasoning behind - the majority of the changes, but they've been done in such a clumsy, thoughtless way that feels like box-ticking. Instead of saying "can we make Tomb Raider more suitable for the 2020s?" they've just taken a rough outline of Lara and stuck her in something that vaguely represents what they think modern culture is like. The worst part is that, by including these attitudes in such a crude, blunt way, all they end up doing is making the bigots angry and giving them reason to fight back. I really wish we could just go back to a time of 'Lara goes on some fun adventures'.
I wasn't a huge fan of this Anime its okay and do like that Jonah was apart of this he really keeps Lara grounded when she gets in over her head like in the reboot games Hailey Atwell did a fantastic job with the voice acting although i did miss Camilla Ludington i give the show 5 out of 10 its just okay . I agree with you this show was depressing actually one of the biggest reasons why I didn't like it the whole thing with Roth was so lame! I agree with you on why can't we just enjoy the show, if you look at society today it's a joke everything is a problem there's nothing nothing we have in this world that is complaint free. And your right about atrocities that happen and have happened look at Palestine prime example of how humans want power over others it's so sad it kills me as a Muslim I live in the uk and i noticing the rise of islamaphobia this should not be happening too anyone . Please forgive me for anything that I said that might be wrong.
Ye I was not expecting it to be so depressing, I didn’t enjoy watching most of it at all 😩💔 I too like Jonah and Zip so I was happy to see them ☺️ I think a reason for over all declining mental health in society is due to this idea that everything we consume and do needs to address everything wrong with the world at the same time. We are not robots, we need breaks and escapism and focusing on the negatives all the time is destroying people’s mental health. I’m so so sorry you have experienced Islamaphobia, that is awful 🙁 the world is a very negative and scary place right now, but that’s why I’m so happy to have this community. Everyone is welcome and respected here, and we will always focus on the positives as much as possible 🥰❤️
@suzannetheraider I adore you and this community my friend thank you for being ever so lovely ♥️♥️ genuinely love being apart of this group I've made good friends here thank you for that
Excited to watch this after work ☺️ Edit: Just finished watching it! I appreciated the balanced opinions and fair perspective shared. As a "Tomb Raider" series, I found it pretty underwhelming-very meh. But as something to just sit back and watch? It was okay! I did enjoy the cheesy fan-service moments here and there. That said, as someone who's lost a parent in real life, Lara really needs to move on from this plot point-holy MOLY. I love a character with depth and complexity, but if the only growth or development she’s going to have is being perpetually hung up on her dead dad… I don’t know. I do find myself missing the classic Lara who raided tombs in silence sometimes. There’s something timeless about that simplicity.
Thank you 🥰 Meh is indeed a good way to describe this series 😂 for most of it I was bored, and kept checking how long was left in the episode 🙈 There we’re some very cool moments, but they were sprinkled amongst mostly boring and depressing plot 😩 I’m so sorry to hear you lost a parent 💔 but I do agree, with grief there is a point where you need to let go and move on. You never forget, but you move forward. Lara’s inability to let this go is actually really harmful and damaging, and I don’t think any therapist would tell her it’s healthy to base her entire life around following in her father’s footsteps. She needs to make her own life. In trying to make her more relatable, they actually made her a really really bad character with super toxic and unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms 😕💔
Thank you soo much for this review it's very well based, And I agree with you on most things,I also liked some of the classic elements in it but didn't like the premise of it at all, it's good to see a real tomb raider fan review it and say their opinion because they love the series and want it to be better unlike a lot of toxic people who are not true fans and keep bashing the franchise and say disgusting things.
Thank you! 🥰 I love Tomb Raider and I always want it to be successful and the best it can be. It would make me happy if CD would listen to fans and take the feedback from us, but they never do 🙁 I’ve seen some people be vile about current TR and use it as an excuse to push other harmful agendas, and that’s awful. I’m a very balanced person I think, and I hope I gave a fair and constructive criticism of the issues, while also due praise to what they did right ❤️
For me i thought meh, it was ok (ok-sh,) I thought the characters were meant to be 2 dimensional and just there for the sake of supporting lara with no substance or development of their own, however I expected it to be worse compared to other series where the tone implies that we should be made to feel guilty of crimes againt society for liking beautiful female and physically powerful male cartoon characters. Neither fun enough to be like the first mediocre Tomb raider film and not serious enough to be like Aod game.
Cores Lara Croft is what made Lara Croft Lara Croft, the Legend Reboot I feel expanded on that, especially character wise. Square Enix's reboot stripped Laras' characteristics and values and just made her a female Nathan Drake. Why they would do an animated series following Sqaure Enix's Lara is beyond me as that iteration is the most unliked
Hi, l agree. I struggled to watch it and connect the character with Lara Croft. To me, the animation also looked poorly done and the jokes didn't make any sense. It feels like this is just a marketing before the next TR game. Great video BTW! So many examples today of people thinking old and loved IP needs to be remolded and made worse. Why do this, just make new IP, except they can't as they have no imagination and are risk adverse.
Such a great structured and thought out video Suzanne!! Awesome work!! poignant but fair! Enjoyed and agreed with most of your commentary and I am not going to echoe any particular point because it would be too long. I especially got moved and enjoyed when you spoke about Ireland (and its very inspiring history, which I only got learn a bit about during my recent visit and I was .. WOW!!) and connected it with certain attitudes in the show. As someone coming from a country with a looot of "baggage" like that I could relate.. in a way.. It's not like when lara was in Greece in TR1, I am thinking, omg she is stealing historical artifacts from Greece.. I am offended 🤣🤣 It's fantasy and she is working for herself and her pursuit of knowledge.. not like the british empire 😂 On a lighter note.. I really loved the sofa moments .. they were giving Bridget Jones 😅 a bag of doritos was the only thing missing to complete the picture but you probably cut that out 🤣🤣(I am only jk ofc 😘)
Thank you 🥹❤️ that means a lot as I was very nervous about this video and didn’t think I would be able to make any good points 😂 Thank you! Ireland has a very sad and dark history, but I am so proud to be Irish and be from a country of fighters who never gave up ❤️ yes I totally agree with you 😂 it’s all fictional and she’s not really stealing artifacts from countries, there’s no need for anyone to get offended 😂 she even steals the Bestiary, it’s fine with me 😅 haha I’m glad you enjoyed the sofa moments, it was fun to film ☺️ I was eating Chocolate while watching actually, you can hear I have chocolate in my mouth at the end when I say I don’t like the one-liner jokes 😂🙈
Why do they keep making new TR content if they hate TR and all that it represents, protagonist included. I really don't get who is their target audience honestly, cause the reboot trilogy isn't that big of a success, and the remastered games have moved the waters a lot more!
Now that I'm watching your TR Anniversary series with a more neutral mind (rather than being thirsty for only the positives when I first played it) and reached a conclusion so evident that it's even hard to believe: Crystal Dynamics doesn't understand Tomb Raider nor Lara Croft at all !!! It's easy to point the 2013 as the beginning of the derail but no, even the LAU trilogy, despite being cool and entertaining tuned down the exploration and platforming so much in favor of combat that when they remade TR1 with their flavor the result was what you're experiencing in TRA!! I have never been too positive toward Crystal Dynamics but this is too much! Watching you tell us all this things that happened in the series and putting it side by side with the Survivor Saga and the Remasters made me angry. First of all: Daddy issues, REALLY?? Didn't THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE say that having that be the driving force of Lara's progression even at the third instalment wasn't appealing at all? We could kind of understand and insecure and afraid Lara in 2013, but not in RotTR or SotTR, let alone in here since SotTR "marked the point when she became the adventurer we all know and love". Then the Feminity: It's quite a trend recently in a lot of major studios both films/TV-shows and videogames not to portray charachers as masculine of feminine. Male characters are sometimes depicted as clumsy useless idiots while female ones sometimes as bland, flat know-it-all and it's enfuriating when characters, regardles of who's under the skin are forced into something just beacuse the people in command are afraid to depict people as human beings. Of course a writer can tinker with characters, but we need to SEE it, root for them, belive them and understand them. Angelina Jolie said in an interview: "As a person she's just a woman who doesn't hide her feminity. She doesn't want to show anything nor resemble anyone". It's weird because LAU Lara was pretty much spot on so they know how to do it. And then there's Colonialism: I mean... ARE YOU ####### SERIOUS?? The franchise is named Tomb Raider... RAIDER... not Artifact Collector or Treasure Seeker... Tomb Raider, she goes to hunt them, she doesn't wait sitting in a chair drinking tea for them to plop on top of her desk. She goes on adventure because it's fun, that's it! She goes the hard way of "playing by the rules" inside the Tombs so it doesn't detract the fun of the challenge, she goes in there knowing that wild animals will attack her and she still goes there, she awakens guardians and ancient creatures and she holds her ground, accepts the fight and pursues her quest for the treasure. She gets beaten, betrayed, disarmed and overtaken by her rivals and she still gets up and comes back to claim what she wanted. All of this because of a single reason: she chooses to do it. Is there a more solid foundation for a character like this? The fact that the franchise revolves around conquering tombs is precisely this one: get to know such a brilliant characher and yet, CD had to thing some of us would "applaude" the uncountable amount of cases of sacking along history... I feel insulted when a script "censors" stuff like this and then slaps our faces "colonialism bad". No #### sherlock, the aim of a story that deals with those "touchy" topics is not to judge our believes, but to test them. We didn't need TR2 to tell us "Bartoli bad", just look how he has Venice under lockdown and how he commits genocide in Barkhang Monastery and draw your own conclusion. And finally there's this "Thanks to Crystal Dynamics" that, similar to all of you, pisses me more than it should. CD went off to a pretty good start on Legends but they could have managed the franchise much better. I don't want to generalise nor pinpoint anyone of their team in particular, stuff like big videogames are much complicated than it looks on surface, but people in charge have been concatenating missteps one after the other. First the Survivor trilogy: It's not bad, but it's hardly recognisable as a Tomb Raider when the gameplay is totally different, the story is totally different and Lara is totally different. The problem comes when they stepped and said "this is Lara now". Then the Remasters: What we had been begging for years is finally in development, "Be grateful to us that we listened" but we won't hesitate censoring a poster where Lara appeared in a sexy pose and on stating how ashamed we are of launching this product just beacuse the main character is a gorgeous girl with her chest size on larger side of the spectrum and that in TR3 fictional polinesians appear depicted savage canibals. I'm not sure what the future of Tomb Raider looks like. Sure, we have the 2nd Remaster in the nearby future and for sure LAU will get remastered as well. But if the rumours are to be believed there's another tv-series on the work by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her decisions aren't particularly positives. And then there's the next big game, presumably taking place after season 2 and again, if the rumours are to be believed, it doesn't look good. A piece of artwork was revealed where Lara didn't look like Lara but more like Larry and the main plot also included a lot of "colonialism bad" and Lara is ashamed of treasures and artifacts being stolen and she wants to return them. Nothing 100% confirmed but you can see how it follows the trend of the series. I don't think we, as an audience ask for too much: Just the character that was created in 1996 going on an adventure to hunt for an artifact while she competes against other people who also want it. That's it, stay true to the character.
@@dealyboy thanks! Yep, my commentary length got just a tiny bit out of control 😅 I hadn’t watched the series, didn’t give it much importance when I saw reviews describing as a weak series, so i just glanced. But when I saw Suzanne comenting those “touchy” spots I got outraged seing that our beloved franchise is next on being torn apart: I used to be a big Star Wars fan but I just don’t care about it these days. Other franchises have also fallen due to incompetence on their leading team and we don’t want this to happen to Tomb Raider as well.
@@gerard3855 ... yes I agree but I also think it's all pervasive, it's the age we're in ... but it could just be on the turn but mustn't get political 😇 I also liked Star Wars and have all the movies and understand what you mean, but I was more over the fence 😁live long and prosper Gerard 🖖🏻😉
Sorry, what? Did you play TR2? TR classic had a lot of combat. There is more shooting in 2 and 3 than Shadow of the Tomb Raider. 😂 CD isn't and doesn't want to make old Lara. She's done, she got 5 games and it was getting stale. It was time to evolve and change, Core tried with AOD and butchered the franchise. 😢. Legend brought the franchise back. If it wasn't for CD, TR would have died nearly 20 years ago. Also CD are the people giving us the remasters. The narrative that CD is evil is rubbish imo.
Personally, I liked the animated series - like, not love - it was okay (6 or 7). For a Tomb Raider series, it should have been better (but writing a movie or (animated) tv series about Tomb Raider is relatively hard; I think it is better/best suited for video games). I want Lara to have depth as a character, but ideally the series should have been a clear transition from the Survivor era onward (towards the Classic era) and in my opinion they got 'stuck in the past' a bit too much and she was still too 'emotional' (even more so than in Rise and Shadow - there I liked that because it wasn't too much (for me at least) or without good reason and it fitted the character in that stage of her life (it was her origin story/the Young Lara trilogy after all), but now we really have to move on and find a new balance). The fact that the promised transition was absent (combined with the lack of news regarding the upcoming unification, I have to admit) made it a bit disappointing. There were also moments I really liked though, so I'll definitely be watching Season 2 when that eventually releases. My compliments for this review. I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts/opinions; I appreciated how you presented them (it truly felt genuine, that's the most important for me). Thanks for making the video!
Yay, I was so excited for this video~ I was mentally nodding my head or silently responding to everything you said 😅 Many things I'd love to add here but I don't want to bore you so I'll stick to what spoke to me the most in your commentary. Thank you for articulating my exact thoughts on the whole "this Lara wasn't feminine" debate so well. To me, it's one thing to hear the incels and other misogynistic losers on twitter whining about Lara not being sexy enough only for the fact that they can no longer get their rocks off. But as a woman, I completely agree with you that there's something almost vexing about making Lara seem downright uncomfortable with her femininity. You're right, seeing this character go against what is expected of a feminine woman by being so badass is part of what made her so unique, appealing and inspiring as a young girl. Overall, it didn't sit right with me how this Lara came across like she actually hated herself. Where's the confidence? Where's the sass and irreverence? Tying into that, this sort of overcompensation just cheapened her character. I never looked at Lara Croft as some paragon of morality. If anything, when I revisited the games for the first time as an adult (remasters), I had to raise an eyebrow and go: "Oh, she's kind of terrible, isn't she?" Did that put me off? No, I smiled and kept playing, because expecting a deep sense of ethics from an actual tomb raider would just be hypocritical. Trying to present her now as if she's suddenly so morally conscious is just goofy. And on that topic, I really appreciated getting your perspective as an Irish person. I think you're absolutely justified in not allowing ignorant people to invalidate that experience. Honestly, I didn't hate nor love the show and I'll tune in for the 2nd season, but that's only because after the first couple of episodes, I made a conscious effort of disconnecting this experience from the one I've had with the games. Which I guess wasn't that hard for me since I'm not that familiar with the reboots, remakes and all that, so I already didn't have much of an opinion on that Lara. If anything, I'm glad I happened to watch your Legend and Underworld playthroughs right before the show came out since that helped soften the whiplash a bit at least. Really, I only ever cared about the original games. But for someone such as you who has invested so much of yourself into the franchise over the years, I can imagine how the many questionable choices they made in this show would come across as tone-deaf and insulting to not only the fans, but to Core Design as well as Lara's character. Anyway, thank you for soldiering on for the sake of this video, despite having such a poor time with it! You're one true Raider, Suzanne 🫡 (Sorry this got so long after all, woops 😶)
Yes! This Lara seemed to hate herself, perfectly put. And I just hate the implication that anyone who is curvy or has a large bust is not a “realistic” woman or is automatically sexualised and catering to the male gaze. As someone who myself is naturally very curvy, that is insulting. I can’t help my body and I shouldn’t feel ashamed of it. I am not catering to anything by existing. We don’t have to mock and erase one type of woman to celebrate and uplift another. Exactly, Lara was always morally ambiguous and I don’t think they ever pretended otherwise in the classics. We’re not looking at her to shape our moral compass, we’re loving her because she’s cool and badass and goes on these fun adventures ❤️ Thanks so much for watching and I’m so glad you enjoyed the review 🥰
Being feminine is not woke enough in this day and age. It is also one of the huge reasons this show failed. Fefreshing to see someone that speaks out about it. Next time do not get defensive immediately about supporting feminine characters.
I really didn’t like how they changed Lara’s look .face was made very well, but her hair ,body, outfits ,mannerism, her talking to ppl and overall character all was wrong for me personally as a fan since 1996. Two things I really liked was her face it was well made and…. Zip somehow I feel like we got little more mature version of zip from tr5 (yes he was gay as f***in classic game for ppl saying he wasn’t). Very nice video im shooked u managed to find so many good words for this anime!❤
Thank you for the review Suzanne ... regarding the anime - your scores ... the good 8 minutes, the bad 19 minutes ... overall a miss 👎🏻 . I have not seen the anime, I presume it's like a cartoon serial, but I'm not surprised you didn't like it, I wouldn't have either. The times have beaten you as they did me a long time ago, am I saying you're too old to appreciate it? ... no, of course not. It is woke! ... the native chief character that was 'offended' and the others on his behalf of course means that Lara is guilty of offence (NOT) ... all the angst, self doubt, feelings, pronouns, gender reassignment ... but it is only what I expected. It is not just Crystal Dynamics it is the whole of western society that has been infiltrated. I like the early CD games as well as Eidos / Core Design ones, some are good, indeed great, but some not so much. I think you have to consider the current iteration of Crystal Dynamics and their 'feud' differently. I feel as though I've been on the HG Wells time machine sometimes, having seen the death of humour and personality flash past. A couple of bright points for me were (i) seeing you enraptured by Lara with her pistols ... seriously you did look 6 years old! and (ii) standing up for femininity. I loved the Binxy moments and it was only this morning I was feeding ham to Malcolm and Harley (short for Harlequin), cats do love it. I am also a die-hard Tomb Raider fan, Bruce Willis and Lara Croft what a combo that would be ☺. Lots of love Suzanne 👏🏻🙌🏻
ohh nooo dealy 😟 the start of your second paragraph😕 I am so sad to see you say things like this .. I was not expecting this.. There is no need for trans or non binary people to receive shade for a mediocre show! People just want to live their lives in peace you know, they do not want to make your favourite characters anything... or infiltrate anything. People just want to be seen and live in peace..
@@alkemistes I can concur with your sentiment. I've loved Suzanne's review and how she's put forth her thoughts in a critical but still inclusive manner. However, in other areas of the TR community I've been quite put off by how culture wars and politics have overtaken the talking points to where it's difficult to even have a discussion about the series' flaws without people denigrating certain groups or movements. Suzanne's review of the show is the only one I've dared to even watch because in every other online space the critiques are no doubt marred by certain "opinions" that are centered around culture wars rather than the franchise. Yes, we prefer original Lara's characterization and do not want that changed. No, we do not have to throw shade at other communities in response.
I like to think the anime does what Rise and Shadow of the Tomb Raider should’ve done years ago, and that was to actually address Lara’s PTSD aswell as have her grieve in order to move her character forward. Not to discredit those games but after watching the Netflix series, Rise and Shadow almost feel like unnecessary padding as they didn’t really do much in the way of Lara’s development. So now the anime has to tie up any loose ends when going forward with this unification as it seems like Crystal Dynamics are trying to course correct the narrative misteps they made after TR 2013. Atleast Lara is now actively embracing those classic traits we all know and love again. I haven’t seen her be this witty and sassy since the Alicia Vikander movie in 2018.
i am a ++ in the lbtqxyz++ commune, my pronouns are it/its. we are inclusive and so respect your views and opinions and we welcome you white pretty sexy white feminine woman into our diversity. 😅
I can't agree with You on the whole racism in TR think. We cant pretend its not there, it has to be addressed in some way. Was it done properly in the series is the whole other issue, but I dont think pretending its not there is tha solution here. Granted, Uncharted, Tomb Raider and indiana Jones all have this problem. This genre is based on inherently racists ideas. The Idea one can just walk in and take stuff from other culture is racist. You may think that this has no real life repercussions, but I'd like to remind You this is exactly the reson that British Museum gives for not returning their stolen artifacts. Thay say thay have to do this since ppl in this third world countries cant take proper care of them. So this whole image of primitive tribes living around huge abandoned temples is playing into this and is inherently racist. I'd like to also add, that first conquistadors did actively destroy Maya writing and stone buildings since, they had to give the idea that those are primitive ppl that are being saved by "civilised" europeans. Any evidence to the contrary was being actively destroyed. As much as I love those type of games and movies, they do need to reinvent them selfs. And I would love them even more if instead of being part of the problem and spreading some harmful ideas, they would have become part of the solution.
You may be surprised Zenzej but I think you make some good points, I don't stick up for white imperialism or the condescension of indigenous peoples. I think it is possibly part of the unconscious bias that British people like me supposedly have, although I don't think the makers were aware of that in the original series (unconscious yeah?) and to be fair it was not in their scope. Should these issues be explored in the anime and contemporary games, mmm! I'm not sure, what do you think?
@@dealyboy its not only unconscious, but also we all are (and so is any art we produce) a product of our time. I dont blame creators at Core, its just Tomb raider, as it was back then, was a product of its time, inlcuding technological advancements and social norms. As everything it should adapt, or it will die out, and I would hate for the second one to happen.
@@alpha1solace Jesus, where all this is comming from? I did not get the idea, it is how it was sold to the europeans back home. the narrative was "Those are backwards ppl, we need to civilise them and christianise". "That isnt racist, that is the way some people genuinely choose to live." - This is modern mindset, not the one on which Indiana Jones and others were based and that is kinda the point. Also Spanish are european, its european colonialism, not just british, dunno where this one came from as well. There were multiple colonial powers.
I agree with you a lot! The anime had it's moments, but I honestly think Crystal Dynamics is losing the TR plot and what TR is about.
Ye, when you take away the tombs and the raiding, there’s nothing really left to the Tomb Raider franchise 😂 It would almost be comical if they weren’t destroying a franchise and a character that we love so dearly 💔
@@suzannetheraider Tomb raider 2013 with... OPTIONAL TOMBS, what the hell is that all about?
When Suzanne would rather have more crocodiles than the actual plot, you know the series has failed 😂
This was such a great watch, you are a really good reviewer! Loved this breakdown, and the bits of you reacting to the show were so much fun. I haven't seen the anime myself (even though I consider myself the biggest Tomb Raider fan in the world, hah) because I just don't care. I'm 99% sure I won't like it. The positive highlights you mentioned seemed fun though!
Great video 😎
Edit: Your commentary on the so-called "touchy" subjects was so well said and handled by you. I agree completely.
I was thinking the exact same 🤣🤣 I watched a couple of reviews and also didn't think it was appealing to me. After watching this video I see that I didn't miss much.
Yep, when I want the crocodiles back, the series has taken a completely wrong turn 😂💔 Thank you so much Alex! I was really nervous about this video because I’ve never reviewed anything before and I didn’t think I had anything of value to say, but once I started talking, all this stuff just started pouring out 😂 I totally get why you haven’t watched it, as I said in the video, I don’t think I would have gotten past episode 1 if I wasn’t making this video 😅 I was also sure I wouldn’t like it, and I was right. But there were definitely scenes worth watching in the show, and it wasn’t all bad 🥰 I would suggest to watch it for those bits and fast forward through all the rest 😂 I’m so glad you thought I handled the touchy subjects well 🥹 I’m always super nervous to talk about such things, because I don’t want to upset anyone, but they were two issues that directly affect me and I feel very strongly about them. I felt I had to mention them to give a full and honest review. I’m getting better at articulating myself with what I mean, and this channel has helped a lot with that 🥰❤️
It was absolutely horrible as a hardcore Core Design Tomb Raider fan. It felt flat
23:48 I completely agree with you... I honestly couldn't watch the anime through because it made me kind of depressed. Playing the remasters really helped me, because they're so light and carefree.
Ye I just did not appreciate that they yet again turned a series that should be fun and exciting into something that made me feel just super sad and depressed. Why do they keep doing this? 😩💔
Honestly I thought it was a very good review and very well made. Considering this was your first it was super sophisticated with 'cut scenes' of your live reactions, a real-time rant and even an easter egg Binxy bonus level. I appreciate the time and effort you put in and you now have another string to your bow 🥰
Haha Binxy Bonus Level, love that 😍 Thanks so much dealyboy! I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🥹 Will we ever get Tomb Raider back? 😩
I completely agree with you, Suzanne. I really liked your comments. This isn’t the Lara we know and want. I have no idea when they’ll finally realize that…
Thank you! ❤️ Its so disappointing to see the constant refusal by CD to actually make a Tomb Raider story 😕
I agree with everything what you said. I think being feminine is not a bad thing and I don't why it's portrait in that way. I always looked up to Classic and LAU Lara when I was younger I still do, I know it sounds maybe odd but she helped me grow into a confident woman. I love Reboot Lara and she has some great moments and I wouldn't want to miss her just to clarify that.
I also don't like how Crystal is kind of bashing on Classic Lara...😕
Thank you! 🥹❤️ it’s been upsetting to see the hatred shown to feminine characters in recent years. How is that feminist? Feminism means you can be whoever and whatever you want to be. Lara was always the ultimate feminist just as she was. She always inspired me ❤️ so I totally get when you say you looked up to her. She was my hero when I was a child and made me determined that I would grow into such a confident and adventurous woman too 🥰 I too like reboot Lara, I just got disappointed that she had no growth or character development over the 3 games like we were promised, but I loved her in TR 2013 😍 we don’t need to bash one type of woman to uplift another. CD should know that we’ve moved on from that early 00s mindset 😕
Adding comments as I watch, "bored" and "where's the tombs!" are definitely things I said while watching. I found myself reaching for my phone and shopping on tiktok at the same time. I never do that when enjoying something I'm watching
in all TRUTH the thing that really made Lara Croft a sensation was her sexiness and feminine allure and it is the most crucial ingredient of her to dimish it in anyway takes away from her character
Yes! Sexiness does not take away a woman’s intelligence, capability and strength ❤️
Glad to see your opinion on this series, Suzanne. A thoughtful analysis, indeed.
Sad to see they seem to be continuing the trend of making Tomb Raider too serious. Luckily, we have the remasters, where we can fight mutants from a lost continent, an evolution obsessed scientist, or my favorite, going to an ancient Chinese pocket dimension to fight a dragon mob boss.
If you ask me, they should've stuck with the original Shadow of the Tomb Raider planned ending, where Lara gets contacted by Natla, to bring the franchise full circle.
I agree with so much you said regarding the Anime.
But what I agree most is, that they stripped away all her feminity and yes, sexiness. She was a beautiful, feminine and very classy yet rebellious and adventurous Lady, which made her so badass.
Riding a Motorcycle while wearing an Opera Dress and high heels ? Chronicles Lara did that with a grin and we loved her for that.
Man, I miss old TR, it is good we have atleast the Remasters.
...and don't get me started on the "Classic TR is bad because Colonialism and Classic Lara is only a sex object" -.-
I need to add something because Iam so tired of the way the Franchise is heading.
Why are they acting like Core didn't exist and why are they acting like a Women with a larger Chest and a good body shape ( because ... idk she spents years and years of rock climbing, doing gymnastics and acrobatics, your body WILL be in Shape)
and in the End it all doesn't matter, I want to play a Video Game starring a beautiful, sassy, confident Lara who LOVES what she does out of interest, not because of her daddy or trauma stuff
A Women can have an Interest in sometimes because SHE simply wants to, not because a Man did it before her. Periodt.
Thank you Maloo 🥹❤️ I just don’t see what’s so bad about her being feminine? Or bad about any character being feminine? It’s like they think being feminine makes a character weak or catering to the male gaze, when feminine women just exist. It’s a very disappointing view on women in my opinion 😕💔 and I totally agree! Of course Lara would have a good body with all the gymnastics and exercise she does, and women with large chests also exist. They aren’t catering to the male gaze because they exist, they aren’t sexualised because they wear a tank top when it’s warm. These views are super harmful and I thought we had moved past them in society. Lara was so cool and badass in the classics! I always wanted to be her 😍 CD are just so disrespectful to Core, they don’t deserve the honour of being in charge of Tomb Raider 😡
Yes! They say this Lara is more feminist, but her entire personality is following in her father’s footsteps and doing what HE wanted to do. Classic Lara was a feminist icon and always will be. Women are their own person with their own desires and goals ❤️
18:01 girl I love you😭 truly that's what made me love Lara! she is a WOMAN who is beautiful sexy feminine but at the same time she can be strong and defined herself and kick asses!!!.. love the family part in the end its so cute 😭💜💜💜💜💜
I agree with everything you said. As an anime this season is like 6/10, but as a tr fan it’s 2/10. Many logical ambiguities. I finished it but I was so bored and tired and honestly? Pissed off. All those changes to her character and look hurt because that’s not the Lara we felt in love with. This character they created since 2013 and classic Lara have one thing in common - name. That’s all. F CD!!!
Bonus content of binxy ❤❤❤❤❤
Overall great video. I know it took you a lot of time to record it and edit it but trust me! It was worth it!!! Thanks ❤
I just want one real answer: How is this product profitable for them with such poor production? I mean, how do they think, I want to know?
Yes, suzanne does a wonderful job and we appreciate her and thank her for all the time and effort she put into these videos❤
@ tbh? I don’t think this will do any profit for them at all. We know that season 2 was confined but I think they (Cristal dynamics) just need to patch the holes in the plot. Also they don’t know how to connect the mess they’ve made with reboot with og Lara and her story. I have an ideas how they could do that but they would never do it.
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one bored out of my mind watching 😂🙈 I don’t understand why they took over Tomb Raider if they were just going to entirely change it? Just make something new then? It makes no sense. Seeing the erasure of femininity in female characters the last few years has been super hurtful. It feels anti feminist. Only one type of woman is acceptable now. Any woman who naturally has curves and bust, is catering to the male gaze. Any woman who wears heels and makeup, is not to be taken seriously. I thought we were passed judging women like this and telling them how they should be? I’m so glad you enjoyed the review though, that means a lot 🥹 and I’m so happy you enjoyed Binxy 😍❤️
Your review >>> the anime 😂
Seriously, I completely agree with you!! It was so depressing for me as well. I just have one question... Why??? How many times are we gonna see Lara cry over and over again and "# define herself" i'm seriously bored at this point.
Regarding the opening, I share the same opinion as you! It was well made, felt like an actual animated video game. Lara was fun, she looked cute as well, but my heart sank when I realised "oh no it's just a flashback 😢" and everything went downhill. And I have to say, probably one of your best "talking" video you've ever made yet!! Such greatly constructed review with excellent points, loved it 😃 also, your take on femininity and Lara is spot on! 🔥 You should do more reviews! 😄
P.S.: I'm curious, what did you think of reimagined Zip? Coz I think they badly ruined him as well 😢
Awww thank you 🥹❤️ Yes it feels like the same depressing thing over and over again, and as I said in the video, it genuinely feels like just being slapped in the face over and over again 😂 The flash forward was the worst thing that could have happened 💔 Thank you so much! That’s so lovely of you to say! I put a lot of time into the video and I’m so glad to hear that it was worth it and you enjoyed it 🥹❤️ I might do more reviews in the future 🥰 I personally didn’t like the changes to Zip 😕 He was the main one I had in mind when I said the characters felt like caricatures. Zip didn’t feel like a real person to me. In the games he was very well fleshed out and helpful I think, but in the series he seemed purely there to deliver one-liners that weren’t funny. It was really disappointing 🙁 I also didn’t like Abby in the series. I liked her in the game but in this series she was just angry and rude and in a bad mood all the time 😩
I can’t wait for you to livestream the remastered of 4 5 and 6 when it comes out in February
I agree with you 100%. In this show she literally went backwards with all her problems that she solved with her past????? When she said “this isn’t my home” (about Croft manor) I was like wtf u literally restored your house in Rise/Shadow…It’s like who made this show didn’t play or know the story of the reboot games xD
Very interesting review! I still don't get why they won't do the original origin story of Lara: the amount of drama they could build around her parents disowning her and her relationship with them could be more interesting than this endless repeating of the newer backstory. Also your opinion on Lara and Crystal Dynamics take on her feminine qualities: i've always thought Lara teaches a good lesson: that a lady doesn't have to compromise her professionalism, or her job, or looks, she can have it all at the same time. and isn't that what everyone imagines wanting the ability to HAVE IT ALL?
Yes! Her original backstory would make for excellent drama! It’s so good! And has never been explored before. Classic Lara was the feminist icon CD are trying to make. As you said, she had it all ❤️
100% agree with you Suzanne. You shouldn't have to explain away what your likes, dislikes and preferences are. People only want to hear their opinions come out of your mouth it seems (such as the world now). I can't quite remember who said this quote: "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there". Keep up the great vids 👍
Thank you! 🥰
I'm so glad you mentioned about the Irish history with the British, because it is still to this day a touchy subject with people & whilst we carry on with our lives that bitter past will always exist, but we make due with what we have now. Also you really cemented home the fact that Irish people are "not british" and it's 100% true when people refer to us as British it's pure ignorance, we never have been nor will we ever be British. In fact it's probably the biggest insult you can say to an Irish person 😅 anyways I really enjoyed your review suzanne. Keep up the great work on your channel.
3:28 Definitely not just you, I'd love to be a passenger on his plane too, Lara is one lucky girl :D ! 😅
I totally agree with you, the show had it's moments of brilliance, but it also brings me to a conclusion... all those moments of greatness are inspired by something from the past, just cause of how quintessential (sp? 🙃) it is to Lara's character, it is carefree, somewhat fantastical, surrealistic, adventurous, crazy, in a way separated from the reality. Why are they trying to alternate her character so much to the point it doesn't feel like it's Lara's adventure anymore I will never understand, Lara has never been the source of "realism", it was always about myths, legends, powers out of this world, incredible, over the top action. I did enjoy some bits of the anime and... in the end I will still watch the 2nd season, cause I'm just curious to see if they will get past the hurdles of writing whack character development for Lara and will finally turn her into this heroine capable of anything and everything that we've always known and loved !
Like if I want emotional, depressing and realistic characters and scenarios Lara wouldn't and should never become the source of that, I'd rather go to some The Last of Us or whatever.
10:15 Totally agree with you ! We're essentially expecting Fast and Furious (just how the show led us on with the opening and how it rightfully should have played out), but we're getting "Therapist needed in aisle 7" all the way throughout the show... another problem with that... they have been milking this plot for 3 games, a movie and now an anime... like why LARA out of everybody seems like the most troubled and depressed being on the planet ?! She is finally supposed to be the opposite, but they just don't know how to progress with her character which makes it so disappointing, it almost seems like an endless loop that we're just trapped in. Some people in charge I don't wanna say are incompetent, but they just aren't meant to write about Lara, cause she should have moved on to cooler and greater things long ago. Let's hope 2nd anime and the "unified Lara" in the new game just gets rid of this baggage and the constant need for friends... it is "Adventures of Lara Croft" not "Lara, Depression and Friends". I don't mind an occasional appearance, like Zip here and there, but this constant need for support from others takes away so much from what Lara has always been. They need to understand that Lara was always beloved but unhinged, villain-esque, heroine and nobody has ever cared how many things she put her bullets in, cause it's a VIDEO GAME. 🙃
17:38 Also I agree with you completely ! It's not about ALL women, it's not about representing ALL women, everybody can present differently, but this is LARA, she's always been extremely feminine, but also has shown the exact opposite of what media always portrays feminine women to be, she's always shown that she can kick ass, have many different interests, be well-oriented in many different disciplines, languages and just full of knowledge, something media wouldn't usually portray a feminine and conventionally pretty woman to be, just because of exactly that and according to majority of portrayals it was always the limit of what a feminine, conventionally pretty woman could be. So by stripping her down of that essence, they are just making a completely different character. They are really trying to preach acceptance but yet, they are forgetting that women can be exactly what Lara always was, capable, talented, smart but also full of curves and beauty that she's never afraid to show if she feels like it. And I don't mean here necessarily that I hate the way she looks... I just don't like the way she looks AS LARA, if she was some character in a different franchise that was presented in a similar fashion to begin with, it wouldn't have been an issue, but this feels like they found a confident woman full of beauty and curves and told her to cover up, keep crying, get depressed, never be sure of herself again and don't show ANY signs of confidence. Cause this Lara didn't necessarily display any sort of confidence, neither visually nor with her actions.
In short they need to bring the fun back... it's not all that serious and it should have NEVER BECOME that serious, as you said, life is depressing as is, this is supposed to be a fun escape.
Ps. love the glittery golden eye ! 😊 Very fun review ! 😊
I cannot wait for February 15th...
Love me some Suzanne spilling the boiling tea 😏😏😏 I have just one question, why everybody in this anime looks HOT but Lara?! Looks like a male cosplayer 😂
Yeah I miss the vibe of OG Lara, Legend and Underworld Lara did a great job of keeping her sass and look whereas the reboot stripped her of almost all her personality that she’s known for. That image they released of supposedly the new unified Lara looks pretty good though so I’m hoping they go back to form.
I honestly think I agreed with every single point you made Suzanne. I wanted to like it so much but.....well, you already made the points so I won't repeat them again 😂 it was a miss for me too. Your review was so articulate and well explained, such a good video! Your channel never fails ❤
Thank you! 🥹 I was so disappointed as I truly did want to like it and enjoy it. It hurts seeing my favourite franchise ruined like this 😩💔
I watched it all and didn't think it was too bad. But I do agree they changed Lara's character and did make her look less feminine.
I didn't mind CD putting a disclaimer on the Remasters but I didn't like how they worded it. Almost disrespectful to Core as you say. No Core no Tomb Raider. I really wish they'd been given more of a chance after AOD.
Thanks for the review Suzanne & sharing tour thoughts & opinions.❤
I really enjoyed this video, I absolutely loved hearing what your thoughts and opinions were, for me I watched 5 mins and I couldn’t watch anymore, classic Lara will always be my favourite, I have played the reboots but they will never beat classic Lara 🥰❤️
@@mollywebb5203 hey friend how are you doing?
@@mollywebb5203 I agree it wasn't good very different from the sauce material Classic Lara will always be the best but the reboot one is awesome too .
Thank you Molly 🥰 yes I just don’t like the direction the series is going in 🙁
@ I really agree when you said about the change of character, like I get that fair into it but when you was explaining it I thought, well that’s not Lara 😞 but everything you said I agree with it, it’s such a shame want they did to the series 😞
I agree with every word yiu said😂 thanks for it!
I like how colorful it is. I've been missing that in the games. They probably walked back a lot of her character development and rehashed all the depressing crap for people who didn't play the reboot games. And with Lara's character it just sounds like she's being like Not Like Other Girls. I kinda thought that whole thing was fading away where people were disparaging girly femininity to be taken seriously.
It is very colourful and beautiful ❤️ yes this messaging against everything feminine feels anti feminist to me. We’re supposed to be celebrating every type of woman and every type of person. It does feel “not like other girls” which is mocked now as being so toxic and silly. As I said in the video, it feels like by making this change, they are feeding into the very sexism they are saying they are trying to fight 🙁💔
You see that video shows to me why you are my all time favorite TR youtuber !! You nailed it.
i really was looking forward that anime... i was like "omg finally a TR anime it's been ages" but gosh the dissapointment... first the feeling i got after finishing it was disgust. Disgust because i knew deep inside the core audience for that show wasn't me, at all, and i am a TR fan... which is weird. I absolutely HATE her character, the writing was overall bad. This is reboot / reboot comics recycled with the same scenarios in different places... i felt like nothing was accomplished... and the double pistols came at the END of the show, she used her bow AGAIN to fight against GUNS, lara croft using a BOW AGAIN... come on you can't go back to classic lara and make her ignore her duals come on... classic lara never used even a bow in the classic games like ever... this feels forced. The T-Rex scene felt forced and fan service... that serie was like trying to gaslight classic fans into believing it's the lara we know because outfits, 2/3 easter eggs and voilà. BUT NO. It's not. They sabotaged lara's feminity, and the main writer for that anime, Tasha, reposted a very hateful article criticizing OG lara saying she was created for the male gaze and was overall just pure sexism and awful. Like is that even serious ?? that's why they try as well to say online that she always had muscles it's normal because she is doing a lot of physical efforts... sorry but NO, i am an artist IRL, i studied anatomy... lara's body shape and structure is much more closer to a male body than a female one. There is nothing wrong having muscles or being an athlete BUT Lara never got so much muscles ever, her legs in that anime are bigger than roth on some shots... i knew about the OG lara concept by Toby, yes she did have some muscles in the arms, but that's only there, and she got curves... i hate to see them behaving like being a female with breast, curves, and feminity is wrong. I can't believe Tasha even said she was not comfortable with lara raiding tombs... that's the whole point... how someone so far from that license that never worked not even on the reboot writing can have such important bridge project into her arms ?? why ?? why does 1 writer have the right to say what's right and what isn't when it's always been the case for more than 20 years... Also lara saying she needs friends when in the actual classics she always worked alone and could handle very dangerous guys by her own... now she needs a jonah, an irrelevant SAM here again for no reasons in S2 this is really annoying and we do not evolve. No each new thing they push is to erase even more what core created. Awful era for TR.
Also the art direction wasn't great to me, we got an animated webserie back then that had more artistic research and style than that show... the background was beautiful but that's all... it wasn't like great looking character wise, a lot of issues from one frame to another and you can pause sometimes and see that her face is bigger than the second frame before... her body is so large and then small... etc.
I really hated that anime. also how they felt the need to change zip, like if they want to use whatever they want for their reboot and actually change it and make it sound like they always been like that... i will ignore the unification. Zip was established since 2000 with chronicle, why now is he totally different even in his attitude ? Why does Abby even help someone like lara in a tomb ? where was abby before shadow ? why does she have that role suddenly ? it's so messy... that's not tomb raider. They also ignored characters from the 2013 game... and sorry not sorry but when you really pay attention to these side characters they never even helped lara the same way she helped them... and you want to make me believe she needs them ?? okay ?? iirc it was said that the anime was created to appeal to a young audience as well... you want to make young people watch that anime and for what ?? do we forget how she brutally ends bad guys in the reboot ? how much fight and violence there is inside these games ??? Why do you target such audience ??
did you ever watch the tomb raider animated shorts? you can find them on youtube it was a compellation of various different tomb raider stories animated in different styles my personal favorite is the Ankh Osiris one and the Heart of the world in Antarctica
I did! I loved some of them so much. It makes me sad that this is what we got 😩💔
Thank you so much for the review, I really appreciate it! I don't have Netflix anymore so I'm not going to watch it any time soon. 😅 But I was suspecting as much - not enough Tomb Raider, to much Reboot...
I had the same problems with the Castlevania Animé, it is so boring and my patience ended after four episodes. But I guess it is difficult to create a narrative around a dude with a wipe, slaying monster to rock music to get to Count Dracula... 🤣 With Lara there is so much material and they could have done so many amazing things... Well, what can you do... 😅
Emphatically nodding at everything you said. Great great video. Few things I would love to add:
- Was Lara inappropriately sexualized in the past? The answer is too nuanced for a straight-up yes or no, but my sentiment slightly drifts to yes. It's mostly the marketing mischaracterizing the actual product, and it did slip sporadically into the games/movies ( TR2's ending or that weird 'romantic' moment in AOD ). But I'm baffled by how robbing her of her iconic mannerisms is the answer. There is a middle ground. My ideal characterization of Lara has always been someone who is unapologetically feminine and confident in her sexual appeal without the narrative or the camera being voyeuristic towards her and I'm not sure why they find it so hard to depict that.
- As someone who also lives in a previously colonized country, I too find this new direction frustrating. A perfect example of this is Uncharted. Once the conversation around Nathan stealing artifacts has been brought up, the devs actually doubled down to the point of satire so people stopped talking. Nathan knows he is a thief, everybody around him calls him a thief, and the game is fully aware that he is a thief. Art that portrays thieves doesn't mean that said art is condoning theft. Few things frustrate me more than art that talks down to its audience. We are aware that Lara is an anti-hero and her actions are not always moral, but that's what makes her interesting. Her brashness, nonchalantness and her complete dismissal of what people think about her is what drew people to her to begin with. The point of art is to offer you an experience that you might not get in real life.
- Plot-wise, my biggest gripe is that this show just didn't make too much sense in the broader context of the franchise. Rise reportedly was going to deal with Lara's trauma, but since they dropped that I assume they felt some knots were untied. I'm annoyed that everything has to be explicitly addressed in the narrative rather than implied. It feels inconsistent that Lara only feels guilt over Roth's death, despite being responsible for the deaths of presumably hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people in Shadow. My assumption is that going forward they're taking the spiritual unification route rather than an actual sequel of all the games, which will create a new timeline by itself and I'm not fond of the idea tbh.
Sorry if my comment was too negative! There were some really solid Lara Croft moments here but they were stitched in a really uninspired narrative. Still holding hope for the future. ( Also binxy is so adorable ❤)
Totally agree about her femininity and portrayal! I really appreciated that in the original trilogy, Lara's appearance was very rarely mentioned in-universe (even TR2's ending was fourth-wall breaking enough that I don't really think it counts). She's a beautiful woman, but it's never treated like the most important thing about her - the most important thing about her is she's going to kick your arse. It (along with her being completely self-made without following in her dad's footsteps) felt almost transgressive back then, and is still something media struggles to come to terms with. (and it feels like some TR fans remember her portrayal in marketing and advertising as more true to her character than it was in game canon...)
I like the way she's built in the anime as she's obviously very physically strong, but it'd be nice if they let Lara lean more into enjoying more feminine things, while also being very practical and pragmatic.
I was once excited for the 2013 reboot, and I still had some hope back in Shadow, but now I'm not sure. 😕
I'm a trauma survivor myself, and I find the writers trapping her in the past like this just baffling and annoying. I was looking forward to the post-traumatic growth that could mold Lara into a badass Tomb Raider, which would be super inspiring, but when will it happen?
As for the colonialism, I do find it baffling to see them change a core element of an antihero while keeping the antihero name. Imagine changing Frank Castle into a hero who's 100% against unaliving criminals while still calling him "The Punisher", like what's the point? Btw, to those wondering, I'm a 1991 baby from the Philippines, a country that had been colonized *thrice,* so don't me, lol.
Loved it. Nice animation and I like that it includes easter eggs and characters from the actual video games.
I honestly didn’t have high hopes for this series. Can’t say I’m surprised that they have doubled down on the surviver version of Lara. Makes me worried for future tomb raider games. Agree with you on the more touchy subjects too!
I haven't seen the anime yet, but your opinion is pretty much the same as the German UA-camr Unique Corn. She said that the story is flat and she was sad that Lara doesn't look feminine and lacks charm. Unique Corn was even annoyed that Lara wears Converse instead of high heels when she visits the opera. In her opinion, Lara has no power at all in the anime, is selfish, whiny and relies too much on the help of others. The scene in which Lara touches the Japanese women was completely incomprehensible for Unique Corn too because Lara absolutely knows better.
To be honest, in my opinion this controversy over Lara has gotten out of control. Her appearance in the game is not bad and degrading to women. You adore OG Lara too. A feminine Lara is equal a strong Lara!!!
Also I highly thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings about Ireland and the historical events. It's difficult for foreigners to understand. I for one hate it when people from other countries talk funny about H*tler and make jokes with him or compare current things like livestock farming with the Holocaust. Most Germans still feel guilt in some way for what happend under the N*zi regime.
... you make some excellent points 🥰
I am agree with you and I would add another thing I was upset about. In this show she is constantly surrounded by men, mansplaining her all the time, questioning her decisions. Jonah is the most toxic friendship for me, cause he says he supports her but he is all the time making her cry and making her feel bad. What kind of women empowerment is that? This version of Lara is definitely a punch bag toy for the others and it's depressing and sad. Nobody want this. It's like they try so hard to make her unlikeable
Totally agree with this! 💯
I thought the same. I only made it through 1 maybe 2 episodes. I might watch the rest of the show, since seeing snippets of the other episodes you showed.
It was tough to get through! I really struggled to finish it. I had to watch it over two different days 😂 It’s worth a watch for the scenes I mentioned in this review in my opinion, but maybe you can just fast forward through all the other stuff? 😂🙈💔
@ 😂 I probably will. If the scenes are boring, I am definitely not going to remember and there isn’t point to watch those part if I’m going to forget.
I originally didn't want to watch it but I caved and gave it a go. I watched maybe 5mins and nope! I had a mix of anger and sadness. I miss the old school TR. I just don't like this Tomb Raider at all. 💔😭
Love or hate her, our original Lara was somewhat of a Machiavellian
Indeed she was. She was always morally ambiguous and never meant to be a moral compass for the player 😅
Just starting the vid. I watched 3 episodes but I couldn't continue cos I just didn't like it and couldn't get into it. Shame I wanted to love it since I love tomb raider so much, but I don't think they did it justice
@@JB_Fraulein_Kunst they didn’t. They trashed her character once again…. Constant crying about father and Roth is still the topic. Her looks were great but if that’s the only good thing then….
@@ThePMMpc I'm someone who genuinely loved the remakes (the first 2 anyway, the shadow one I didn't like at all) so you'd think I'd be more forgiving. I felt like I wasn't watching Lara croft in any capacity
@ I loved those games. But they are not a tomb raider experience. They should create new IP
haha.. very funny actually because the 3 episode mark was also the break it moment for me 😅 I was like...I just can't 😅
I don’t blame you 😂 I had to really push through this series for the sake of the video 😂 I kept checking how long was left on the episode I was watching 🙈 I so wanted to love this too. I was so disappointed 💔
I never bothered to watch it because I haven't used Netflix in a few years, and it didn't feel worthy enough to find the _alternative_ way. ☠🏴☠
I saw the writing on the wall a while ago with their "creative vision" for this rebooted franchise. They just do whatever's popular and if that doesn't work, they beat the crap out of the main character/audience both mentally and physically for... "character development"? What an adventure! They've always rubbed me the wrong way when they speak about classic Lara being sexist when their very own creation could be construed as such but it's disguised as "realism", or "relatability". (It's also hypocritical considering THEIR history with the series, as pointed out in this video. 🤣)
I really enjoyed hearing your perspectives, and hearing/seeing that the anime had some nods to the classics, but I am glad to hear another classic fan reiterating the message we've all been saying for years: "We miss our leading lady!" 💔
*Edit to add:* Such a shame about Hayley's performance! I still think she would be a _perfect_ Lara if she was actually playing Lara Croft, and not CD's perpetually-depressed abomination. Maybe she'll get another shot at it with better writing in a potential second season? 😥
The very first scene-- she elaborately gains access to the hidden temple lost to history, escaping from goons, swimming etc... and then once she arrives there, the dude, whatever his name was, just strolls up out of nowhere like there was a bus stop out front. Not sure i even made it through the first episode lol
Haha that’s a very good point 😂
My husband also gets to listen to me complain about things he doesn’t care about. 😂
I don’t want to sound overly negative, but personally I just know I’d hate this show and never will watch it. At a certain point you get a good sense of what something is about, and I’m not going to use my limited time watching what I know will only frustrate. I’ve seen some clips on Twitter (and now more here) and I am glad I don’t care. Well, I care in so far as I wish they’d do TR justice. Instead of waste time on projects that don’t like that they’re Tomb raider products yet use the name anyway.
Love your talk on femininity. It’s been irking me with a lot of media, but especially a character like Lara. It’s like those making these decisions cannot fathom a feminine woman being strong. She has to take on stereotypical masculine traits (and often flat out looking more masculine; see the Amazon in the Diablo 2 remake for a great example😭). It’s fine if you want to make a new character however you want, but don’t completely change old ones. Lara Croft was popular for a reason. There were plenty of attractive characters in that time of the first TR, but Lara is one who became an icon. It’s not just the Core Design games themselves but how they handled
Lara. And CD is getting on my last nerve distancing themselves from who Lara is and what Tomb Raider is about. They clearly don’t like that she’s a raider of Tombs, that she’s a beautiful, feminine strong woman. It’s annoying. Make your own franchise then Crystal. 😒
Anyway, that’s enough ranting. Great video. Best wishes from Dobby 🐕 to Binxy 🐈⬛
When I saw when they did tomb, raider anime on Netflix, I was like so excited to see it. My opinion was it was OK like not what I was expecting, but it was OK. I just really wish they can do like more realistic and something really good stories again. But I agree with you because everything was OK about this show.
Thanks for this review ❤ Did not watch the anime. Don’t know if i want to waste my time watching it. Good review.
Thanks John 🥰
I love Haley atwell so much but her voice would have suited an older Lara more in line with the originals. Having her voice young Lara just didn't work and her voice wasn't convincing as someone meant to be in their 20s.
Yes! I couldn’t quite place why her voice was bothering me, but you’re right! She sounded too old to play Lara in her 20s 😕
Hayley is over 40 years old, but there are VAs older than her who can sound convincingly younger (Tara Strong, for example, who is over 50). She just wasn't a good choice for this role, and didn't have the range to play a younger Lara.
Has anyone played the Soul Reaver remaster games? I am thinking about picking them up tonight I just need to know if they are good or not?
that t-rex at the end reminds me of the one from anniversary the most. i did like the animae series as well.
Loved this format! Super fun 😊 And I agree, wish Lara would be more feminine just as she used to be in the previous games. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed this 🥰 yes, nothing wrong or bad or weak or sexualised about being a feminine woman ❤️
I loved your review, and I'm pretty sure it was more entertaining than the anime😅 I wasn't even curious about it, it looked quite uninteresting from the trailer, imo. You confirmed my first impressions. But really, this review is so well made, I truly loved your perspective on the various details. The fact that they changed Lara's personality and character is quite lame, I absolutely agree with your discussion on femininity.
Haha thank you 🥰 I honestly would not watch it again and wouldn’t recommend others to watch it. There’s some good scenes but over all it’s so boring 😩
This show got roasted like a Christmas turkey on Easter friday. Also i would not give Frederick any more crisps. And CRYSTAL DYNAMICS 4 EVER!
😂
The problem IMO stems from this "unified Lara" idea they're currently pushing. As if every iteration of Lara is equally great and referencing random bits from all of them will somehow appease every fan. Instead, it just gets messy.
@suzannetheraider. Omg i loved the bonus video of cute little binxy having treat s ham was it ? Also the part with the wire and the microphone made me 😂😅litte menace ❤😊
Haha thank you! Binxy is so cute 🥰
Good video 👏 I absolutely agree with your negative points, and for the reasons you mentioned. But I would add that the climactic T-Rex battle/dual pistols part was a massive *low* point for me. It was totally unnecessary to and disconnected from the story: where was the lead up? The foreshadowing? Non existent! It served no purpose other than to make fans like us go "ooooo!" and clap madly. That's fine for toddlers watching Blues Clues, but not when directed at Tomb Raider's YA/mature audience. This is now the third - *third* - time we've had Lara tease the twin pistols (her signature weapons on a par with Indy's whip or Vader's lightsaber), in the closing minutes: once at the end of TR 2013, once at the end of the Alicia Vikander film, and now again here. It's as though the writer(s) are scared to mature Lara's character outside her "becoming" herself, or touch upon anything that harkens back to what made her iconic before the IP passed to Crystal Dynamics. It's one thing to insert a sly Easter egg in where only repeated viewings or prior knowledge will spot it (the clue's in the name!), but it feels patronising and hollow when Easter eggs are being showcased as The Main Attraction (TM). They had an amazing opportunity with the animated series to take us beyond the confines of the game, or even a live-action film, but all we got was reheated leftovers covered in glitter. If this is the direction the unified timeline/future entries are taking, then I'll respectfully pass.
This is an excellent point!
Not seen the show, but that 3yrs later scene change is a blatant steal from an Uncharted 4 flashback near game start, which was itself a blatant steal from, IIRC, Batman Begins or possibly The Dark Knight Rises. I’m only really interested in TR as a game, but I feel an animated TR is easily at least 25yrs too late. I was in awe of those OG Lara Lucozade ads especially the one set in a cavernous ancient temple with Lara chased by what seemed like demonic wolves - to me, that was the style and dynamism of what a TR animated show should be.
Nor do I feel the Americans have ever really got Tomb Raider and the very British anarchic cartoony and dark punk humour of the very early Core Design games. Americans never grew up with Tank Girl, Emma Peel from The Avengers (both influences on Toby Gard’s Lara) nor comics like the Dandy or Beano where rebellious kids essentially stick up 2 fingers to authority and the establishment 😃
By jove he gets it 😅 ... any comments which bring flashbacks of Diana Rigg, Minnie the Minx and Bash Street must be 💯🤡.
@@dealyboyHaha, yes, the Beano’s Bash Street Kids - where the strip shows the kids rampaging round town and scaring the adults with toy guns, while the comic also gives away a toy gun as a free gift on the cover! 🤣
THE FOLLOWING COMMENT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You have been warned, dear reader. The review was perfect, great video.
I really couldn't get into this series, I didn't like the re-reboot, the stories fell flat, and the gameplay was more like Uncharted. I will say the game I played when I was six was TR I on PS1.
8:49 it turned into a scene from Uncharted 4, where Drake was beating up a cellmate
Lara cries CONSTANTLY throughout the show,
Her dead dad will NOT let up, and always on the lines of "I wish my father could have seen this"
this Lara was born in 1992, which throws the ENITRE backstory for her out of whack,
Crystal Dynamics are ERASING classic Lara and are trying to UNIFY the 3 timelines and will fail miserably, so she went after the Scion in 1996 (Classic Lara, born 14th February 1968, at the time of Tomb raider 1 she was around 28 years old), which makes this Lara FOUR YEARS OLD when she went to Peru, Greece, Egypt, and Atlantis and killed Natla AS A CHILD, no less.
to me the true mentor was Werner Von Croy (SPOILER ALERT! we thought Verner died in the Iris plinth when it closes after his leg got trapped, second Level of Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation, and he went to search out Lara Croft, who he thought was dead but the emerged form the pyramid alive), not Roth, you have to read the comics to get into the 2013 game because there is SO MUCH in the comics.
to me this Lara whined a lot, and calling for Jonah every 2 minutes is bad, press X for Jason (Heavy Rain Reference)
the writing of this show is TERRIBLE, like;
Jonah: "You're acting as if you have a death wish"
Lara: "I don't"
Jonah "I know"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WHY FREAKING SAY THIS!!! no need
as you can see i REALLY hate this iteration of Lara, bring back the sass who was a kick-ass chracter, not this wannabe.
I'm out.
I don't need to say this but I loved and laughed at your mini review Retro and I'm out too.
@@dealyboy I will die on this hill, Classic and LAU Lara IS the best version than TR2013, i couldn't stick her, i didn't gel with her, in my opinion.
@Retro-71990 ... and I respect that opinion.
Yep you nailed it 100%. I absolutely oppose the idea of "unifying" three completely different timelines together because it simply won't work.
Just finished the series, and I too found it boring 😢 some great moments and lots of potential... But it mostly fell flat. Your opinions were very well explained and I appreciate you making this video. It was more entertaining than the show tbh 😂 Also, people called you British??? (*Takes out my duel pistols*)
Wishing you, Frederick and Binxy a happy Christmas ☃️❄️😻
Thank you 🥹❤️ Happy Christmas to you too 🥰
Great review! I feel the same about the positive and negative aspects. Overall I think it's a bad series, and Lara Croft deserves a better adaptation
Thank you! Yes Lara deserves much better than this! 🙁💔
Suzanne, have you played the “Survivor Trilogy?”
I have, I enjoyed them but was disappointed with the lack of character development 😕
I love your shelf:) ooh u have Esmeralda-doll🥰 i collect my childhood dolls, i also have her ^^
Yes I love Esmeralda 😍
I agree with you on a lot of the points you made, especially her character being mopey and glum all the time. I know they make a comment about Jonah kind of babysitting her in this but it's true, he does (which I'm not a fan of). The OG Lara didn't need anyone holding her hand.
I agree with your comments on the feminine aspect of Lara as well, she was always a femme fatale. Feminine *and* dangerous. It's fine to not the high levels of femininity in every female character, but I think what a lot of us are saying is we want to see it in *this* female character. I felt Keeley Hawes in particular really nailed both the charm and threat Lara is capable of, sliding between the two seamlessly.
I'm surprised you didn't like Hayley Atwell's portrayal. Most people have said she was quite good, I thought so too. Not quite on the same level as one of the original VAs, but still decent. You do have a point with it potentially being a directing issue.
As for the outfits/sexulisation of Lara you're absolutely right, whilst I personally have zero issue with the outfits I definitely acknowledge some of them can be a bit on the nose (especially in Legend/Underworld). So yes, it does feel very hypocritical when Crystal Dynamics constantly goes on about this. However, I would also argue that the CD that made LAU vs the CD that made the reboot games are two vastly different teams to the point where they might as well be different studios. So maybe not 100% hypocritical but I still think its not something to get worked up over. I think we shouldn't mind having sexy female (or male) video game characters as long as they've got personality and a fun game for them to star in. I think Steve of Warr said it best in his TR4 retrospective when discussing how they began to up Lara's sex appeal. "It's an interesting example of how marketing can directly influence the material it's promoting. Whilst it doesn't negatively affect the game in any way and certainly isn't something to get upset about, you can't help but take notice of it here." Basically I always thought of it as "I don't mind if you go down that route, just as long as the game is still good".
The stealing artefacts aspect is an interesting topic to cover as well. I agree with your point on the disclaimer for the remastered games, didn't really ruin anything but it was totally unnecessary. It really felt like they were saying "We really don't like what's in this game and don't stand by it... but we'll happily take your money for it!". As for the show, I get that realistically Lara would be a thief and we wouldn't condone her behaviour, but shes not meant to be this paramount of virtue. She is a Tomb Raider. Also known as a *Grave Robber*. Yes shes stealing stuff that isn't hers to put in her own private museum, she probably doesn't care. That doesn't make her a character I don't enjoy. I've consumed media with way darker/more evil characters but they were well written and still fun to watch and even root for. And again you're right, sometimes over analysing things takes the fun out of them. I feel we need to aim more for believable rather than realism in media again.
On a more general comment on the current state of Tomb Raider, I swear with all the ways in which we're seeing Lara now. Remasters, Netflix anime, Amazon show, even Fortnite... everything *except* her own game kind of tells me the people currently in charge don't know what they're doing and are just riding off the coattails of a popular IP. But maybe all this is better saved for when you play the reboot trilogy, which I'm definitely looking forwards to.
Sorry for the essay but sometimes a lot of things go through your mind when analyising these things. Overall I felt the show was ok, just didn't really have anything to do with Tomb Raider. I'm sure we'll all have more thoughts once you get into the reboots or if you review the 2nd season of this show or the Amazon show. And yes I agree with your point, these are all my opinions, not facts. People are always free to agree/disagree with me!
Great review, really enjoyed your thoughts on it all and would love to see this type of video again!
Now, I haven't watched the series, but I have seen snippets and clips and from what I saw even from that...I wasn't impressed. I so wanted this to be good. But I agree that they completely changed the tone of her character. Yes, characters need to have a reason to care about them, but Lara is an already established one. The source material is right there! Argh! 😂
Anyway, I liked your review! Everything was succint and well said, clear and easy. See, it's the same thing with the Star Wars shows, parts are good but as a whole, it's a disappointment, and I usually love anything Star Wars. Oh well, at least we have comparatively better Tomb Raider to look forward to 😅
Thank you 🥰 ye I feel like there was so much potential with this series and they fumbled it so badly 💔
I totaly agree with you, Susanne! The anime had its moments, but it was boring and I didn't feel like continuing watching.
I didn't watch the series, and I thank you for the warning.
Thank you for this review! Personally, I liked the show enough, but I do NOT care about her past anymore. Videogame characters do not need these relateable, sad people, and CD needed to let her dead parents/mentors go since 2013. Such a strong, identifiable character is going to waste...
@suzannetheraider. Just come across this new video of your discussion and chat about the new tomb raider Anime is it a movie or is it a tv series i honestly didn't know about it or seen it im not really into Anime but very interesting to watch wnd listen to the things you shared and how you felt about the tomb raider Anime from what i could see aswell seemed boring and yes depressing some of it looked good but overall no where as good as the tomb raider remastered+ looking forward to tomb raider 4+5+6 remastered coming in the new year i felt the Anime changed my opinion of her ❤😊
Hi Nikki ... yes a cartoon series I think, pushing an agenda 🥰
Yes it’s an animated TV series. I would rather wait for the new remasters than watch it, so you’re not missing out on anything 😂❤️
@@suzannetheraider 👍🏻😊
@@dealyboy ok thanks for explaining 😊
Didn't you hear? Nothing can be fun anymore. It's Netflix, everything has to be grim and dark, "adult" I never finished the series. It just came off like a crap retelling of the reboot series. Let Lara evolve ffs. The visuals were beautiful, but the animation was janky, I hated it in motion. I highly doubt this will get a season 2. And if it does, it'll be 2027. Big let down for me and reboot Lara is my favourite. This just wasn't her, or classic.
Give me Jackie Chan Adventures but swap in Lara. 😅
I think you basically summed it up by saying if they're going to make these changes, don't call it Tomb Raider. I'm probably about as woke lefty as they come, but I don't think every franchise is suited to every era of social attitudes. If something has to be changed so much that it no longer resembles its original form to fit in with contemporary attitudes, then it's maybe a sign that perhaps it should be left alone. I have no problem with having a content warning at the start of the remasters - I think there are occasional moments in the Core games which have dated quite badly - but the wording of it was obnoxious, and felt like CD just getting in a dig at Core. There are so many ways an international adventurer could be portrayed without some of the older attitudes - literally just have her give the artifacts to a national museum or have her hired by local historians - without it becoming a huge issue that is an enormous tonal lurch. There were issues with oversexualisation of Lara in the '90s, but they were entirely down to Eidos's marketing, not the games, and a swerve just as far in the other direction doesn't solve the issue. There was always something great about the fact that Lara wasn't a tomboy: she had a lot of sex appeal, but didn't rely on it to be cool. And the emotional stuff carrying on from the survivor trilogy is just tedious... I didn't enjoy the roots of it in the LAU games, and it's really not welcome here. Again, it comes back to the whole purpose of Tomb Raider: it's pulpy, cartoony adventure; having occasional moments of depth can feel profound, but focusing on angst just makes it feel like an entirely different thing. So again, why not do something new like that rather than trying to call it Tomb Raider?
My feelings are that the people in charge of Tomb Raider don't actually care much about it beyond being a name that sells. I understand - and even agree with the reasoning behind - the majority of the changes, but they've been done in such a clumsy, thoughtless way that feels like box-ticking. Instead of saying "can we make Tomb Raider more suitable for the 2020s?" they've just taken a rough outline of Lara and stuck her in something that vaguely represents what they think modern culture is like. The worst part is that, by including these attitudes in such a crude, blunt way, all they end up doing is making the bigots angry and giving them reason to fight back.
I really wish we could just go back to a time of 'Lara goes on some fun adventures'.
... although I'm certainly not woke (it's more that I was born 100 years ago ... haha) I think you make some excellent points 🙂
I wasn't a huge fan of this Anime its okay and do like that Jonah was apart of this he really keeps Lara grounded when she gets in over her head like in the reboot games Hailey Atwell did a fantastic job with the voice acting although i did miss Camilla Ludington i give the show 5 out of 10 its just okay .
I agree with you this show was depressing actually one of the biggest reasons why I didn't like it the whole thing with Roth was so lame!
I agree with you on why can't we just enjoy the show, if you look at society today it's a joke everything is a problem there's nothing nothing we have in this world that is complaint free.
And your right about atrocities that happen and have happened look at Palestine prime example of how humans want power over others it's so sad it kills me as a Muslim I live in the uk and i noticing the rise of islamaphobia this should not be happening too anyone .
Please forgive me for anything that I said that might be wrong.
Ye I was not expecting it to be so depressing, I didn’t enjoy watching most of it at all 😩💔 I too like Jonah and Zip so I was happy to see them ☺️
I think a reason for over all declining mental health in society is due to this idea that everything we consume and do needs to address everything wrong with the world at the same time. We are not robots, we need breaks and escapism and focusing on the negatives all the time is destroying people’s mental health. I’m so so sorry you have experienced Islamaphobia, that is awful 🙁 the world is a very negative and scary place right now, but that’s why I’m so happy to have this community. Everyone is welcome and respected here, and we will always focus on the positives as much as possible 🥰❤️
@suzannetheraider I adore you and this community my friend thank you for being ever so lovely ♥️♥️ genuinely love being apart of this group I've made good friends here thank you for that
Well organized and presented. Sorry it let you down.
Thank you 🥰 I’m sorry too, I really wanted to like it 😕
Excited to watch this after work ☺️
Edit: Just finished watching it!
I appreciated the balanced opinions and fair perspective shared. As a "Tomb Raider" series, I found it pretty underwhelming-very meh. But as something to just sit back and watch? It was okay! I did enjoy the cheesy fan-service moments here and there.
That said, as someone who's lost a parent in real life, Lara really needs to move on from this plot point-holy MOLY.
I love a character with depth and complexity, but if the only growth or development she’s going to have is being perpetually hung up on her dead dad… I don’t know. I do find myself missing the classic Lara who raided tombs in silence sometimes. There’s something timeless about that simplicity.
I am at work right now and I watched it 😂 work can wait 😅
Thank you 🥰 Meh is indeed a good way to describe this series 😂 for most of it I was bored, and kept checking how long was left in the episode 🙈 There we’re some very cool moments, but they were sprinkled amongst mostly boring and depressing plot 😩 I’m so sorry to hear you lost a parent 💔 but I do agree, with grief there is a point where you need to let go and move on. You never forget, but you move forward. Lara’s inability to let this go is actually really harmful and damaging, and I don’t think any therapist would tell her it’s healthy to base her entire life around following in her father’s footsteps. She needs to make her own life. In trying to make her more relatable, they actually made her a really really bad character with super toxic and unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms 😕💔
You got and said everything down to a T! ❤
…P.S can I come and steal Binxy? Think to him as a relic and your house as the tomb 😉
Thank you! 🥹 haha Binxy is the ultimate treasure relic 🥰
Thank you soo much for this review it's very well based, And I agree with you on most things,I also liked some of the classic elements in it but didn't like the premise of it at all, it's good to see a real tomb raider fan review it and say their opinion because they love the series and want it to be better unlike a lot of toxic people who are not true fans and keep bashing the franchise and say disgusting things.
Thank you! 🥰 I love Tomb Raider and I always want it to be successful and the best it can be. It would make me happy if CD would listen to fans and take the feedback from us, but they never do 🙁 I’ve seen some people be vile about current TR and use it as an excuse to push other harmful agendas, and that’s awful. I’m a very balanced person I think, and I hope I gave a fair and constructive criticism of the issues, while also due praise to what they did right ❤️
For me i thought meh, it was ok (ok-sh,) I thought the characters were meant to be 2 dimensional and just there for the sake of supporting lara with no substance or development of their own, however I expected it to be worse compared to other series where the tone implies that we should be made to feel guilty of crimes againt society for liking beautiful female and physically powerful male cartoon characters. Neither fun enough to be like the first mediocre Tomb raider film and not serious enough to be like Aod game.
Cores Lara Croft is what made Lara Croft Lara Croft, the Legend Reboot I feel expanded on that, especially character wise. Square Enix's reboot stripped Laras' characteristics and values and just made her a female Nathan Drake.
Why they would do an animated series following Sqaure Enix's Lara is beyond me as that iteration is the most unliked
Money and agenda
Hi, l agree. I struggled to watch it and connect the character with Lara Croft. To me, the animation also looked poorly done and the jokes didn't make any sense. It feels like this is just a marketing before the next TR game. Great video BTW! So many examples today of people thinking old and loved IP needs to be remolded and made worse. Why do this, just make new IP, except they can't as they have no imagination and are risk adverse.
Such a great structured and thought out video Suzanne!! Awesome work!! poignant but fair! Enjoyed and agreed with most of your commentary and I am not going to echoe any particular point because it would be too long. I especially got moved and enjoyed when you spoke about Ireland (and its very inspiring history, which I only got learn a bit about during my recent visit and I was .. WOW!!) and connected it with certain attitudes in the show. As someone coming from a country with a looot of "baggage" like that I could relate.. in a way..
It's not like when lara was in Greece in TR1, I am thinking, omg she is stealing historical artifacts from Greece.. I am offended 🤣🤣 It's fantasy and she is working for herself and her pursuit of knowledge.. not like the british empire 😂
On a lighter note.. I really loved the sofa moments .. they were giving Bridget Jones 😅 a bag of doritos was the only thing missing to complete the picture but you probably cut that out 🤣🤣(I am only jk ofc 😘)
Thank you 🥹❤️ that means a lot as I was very nervous about this video and didn’t think I would be able to make any good points 😂 Thank you! Ireland has a very sad and dark history, but I am so proud to be Irish and be from a country of fighters who never gave up ❤️ yes I totally agree with you 😂 it’s all fictional and she’s not really stealing artifacts from countries, there’s no need for anyone to get offended 😂 she even steals the Bestiary, it’s fine with me 😅 haha I’m glad you enjoyed the sofa moments, it was fun to film ☺️ I was eating Chocolate while watching actually, you can hear I have chocolate in my mouth at the end when I say I don’t like the one-liner jokes 😂🙈
Why do they keep making new TR content if they hate TR and all that it represents, protagonist included. I really don't get who is their target audience honestly, cause the reboot trilogy isn't that big of a success, and the remastered games have moved the waters a lot more!
This! 💯
They beat the dead dad story to death time to move on
Now that I'm watching your TR Anniversary series with a more neutral mind (rather than being thirsty for only the positives when I first played it) and reached a conclusion so evident that it's even hard to believe: Crystal Dynamics doesn't understand Tomb Raider nor Lara Croft at all !!! It's easy to point the 2013 as the beginning of the derail but no, even the LAU trilogy, despite being cool and entertaining tuned down the exploration and platforming so much in favor of combat that when they remade TR1 with their flavor the result was what you're experiencing in TRA!!
I have never been too positive toward Crystal Dynamics but this is too much! Watching you tell us all this things that happened in the series and putting it side by side with the Survivor Saga and the Remasters made me angry. First of all: Daddy issues, REALLY?? Didn't THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE say that having that be the driving force of Lara's progression even at the third instalment wasn't appealing at all? We could kind of understand and insecure and afraid Lara in 2013, but not in RotTR or SotTR, let alone in here since SotTR "marked the point when she became the adventurer we all know and love". Then the Feminity: It's quite a trend recently in a lot of major studios both films/TV-shows and videogames not to portray charachers as masculine of feminine. Male characters are sometimes depicted as clumsy useless idiots while female ones sometimes as bland, flat know-it-all and it's enfuriating when characters, regardles of who's under the skin are forced into something just beacuse the people in command are afraid to depict people as human beings. Of course a writer can tinker with characters, but we need to SEE it, root for them, belive them and understand them. Angelina Jolie said in an interview: "As a person she's just a woman who doesn't hide her feminity. She doesn't want to show anything nor resemble anyone". It's weird because LAU Lara was pretty much spot on so they know how to do it. And then there's Colonialism: I mean... ARE YOU ####### SERIOUS?? The franchise is named Tomb Raider... RAIDER... not Artifact Collector or Treasure Seeker... Tomb Raider, she goes to hunt them, she doesn't wait sitting in a chair drinking tea for them to plop on top of her desk. She goes on adventure because it's fun, that's it! She goes the hard way of "playing by the rules" inside the Tombs so it doesn't detract the fun of the challenge, she goes in there knowing that wild animals will attack her and she still goes there, she awakens guardians and ancient creatures and she holds her ground, accepts the fight and pursues her quest for the treasure. She gets beaten, betrayed, disarmed and overtaken by her rivals and she still gets up and comes back to claim what she wanted. All of this because of a single reason: she chooses to do it. Is there a more solid foundation for a character like this? The fact that the franchise revolves around conquering tombs is precisely this one: get to know such a brilliant characher and yet, CD had to thing some of us would "applaude" the uncountable amount of cases of sacking along history... I feel insulted when a script "censors" stuff like this and then slaps our faces "colonialism bad". No #### sherlock, the aim of a story that deals with those "touchy" topics is not to judge our believes, but to test them. We didn't need TR2 to tell us "Bartoli bad", just look how he has Venice under lockdown and how he commits genocide in Barkhang Monastery and draw your own conclusion.
And finally there's this "Thanks to Crystal Dynamics" that, similar to all of you, pisses me more than it should. CD went off to a pretty good start on Legends but they could have managed the franchise much better. I don't want to generalise nor pinpoint anyone of their team in particular, stuff like big videogames are much complicated than it looks on surface, but people in charge have been concatenating missteps one after the other. First the Survivor trilogy: It's not bad, but it's hardly recognisable as a Tomb Raider when the gameplay is totally different, the story is totally different and Lara is totally different. The problem comes when they stepped and said "this is Lara now". Then the Remasters: What we had been begging for years is finally in development, "Be grateful to us that we listened" but we won't hesitate censoring a poster where Lara appeared in a sexy pose and on stating how ashamed we are of launching this product just beacuse the main character is a gorgeous girl with her chest size on larger side of the spectrum and that in TR3 fictional polinesians appear depicted savage canibals.
I'm not sure what the future of Tomb Raider looks like. Sure, we have the 2nd Remaster in the nearby future and for sure LAU will get remastered as well. But if the rumours are to be believed there's another tv-series on the work by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her decisions aren't particularly positives. And then there's the next big game, presumably taking place after season 2 and again, if the rumours are to be believed, it doesn't look good. A piece of artwork was revealed where Lara didn't look like Lara but more like Larry and the main plot also included a lot of "colonialism bad" and Lara is ashamed of treasures and artifacts being stolen and she wants to return them. Nothing 100% confirmed but you can see how it follows the trend of the series. I don't think we, as an audience ask for too much: Just the character that was created in 1996 going on an adventure to hunt for an artifact while she competes against other people who also want it. That's it, stay true to the character.
What do they say these days Gerard? TL:DR ? ... well I read it and I think you put it rather well 👍🏻
@@dealyboy thanks! Yep, my commentary length got just a tiny bit out of control 😅 I hadn’t watched the series, didn’t give it much importance when I saw reviews describing as a weak series, so i just glanced. But when I saw Suzanne comenting those “touchy” spots I got outraged seing that our beloved franchise is next on being torn apart: I used to be a big Star Wars fan but I just don’t care about it these days. Other franchises have also fallen due to incompetence on their leading team and we don’t want this to happen to Tomb Raider as well.
@@gerard3855 ... yes I agree but I also think it's all pervasive, it's the age we're in ... but it could just be on the turn but mustn't get political 😇 I also liked Star Wars and have all the movies and understand what you mean, but I was more over the fence 😁live long and prosper Gerard 🖖🏻😉
Sorry, what? Did you play TR2? TR classic had a lot of combat. There is more shooting in 2 and 3 than Shadow of the Tomb Raider. 😂 CD isn't and doesn't want to make old Lara. She's done, she got 5 games and it was getting stale. It was time to evolve and change, Core tried with AOD and butchered the franchise. 😢. Legend brought the franchise back. If it wasn't for CD, TR would have died nearly 20 years ago. Also CD are the people giving us the remasters. The narrative that CD is evil is rubbish imo.
@@IanMcGarrare you on CDs payroll?!
Personally, I liked the animated series - like, not love - it was okay (6 or 7). For a Tomb Raider series, it should have been better (but writing a movie or (animated) tv series about Tomb Raider is relatively hard; I think it is better/best suited for video games). I want Lara to have depth as a character, but ideally the series should have been a clear transition from the Survivor era onward (towards the Classic era) and in my opinion they got 'stuck in the past' a bit too much and she was still too 'emotional' (even more so than in Rise and Shadow - there I liked that because it wasn't too much (for me at least) or without good reason and it fitted the character in that stage of her life (it was her origin story/the Young Lara trilogy after all), but now we really have to move on and find a new balance). The fact that the promised transition was absent (combined with the lack of news regarding the upcoming unification, I have to admit) made it a bit disappointing. There were also moments I really liked though, so I'll definitely be watching Season 2 when that eventually releases.
My compliments for this review. I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts/opinions; I appreciated how you presented them (it truly felt genuine, that's the most important for me). Thanks for making the video!
Yay, I was so excited for this video~
I was mentally nodding my head or silently responding to everything you said 😅 Many things I'd love to add here but I don't want to bore you so I'll stick to what spoke to me the most in your commentary.
Thank you for articulating my exact thoughts on the whole "this Lara wasn't feminine" debate so well. To me, it's one thing to hear the incels and other misogynistic losers on twitter whining about Lara not being sexy enough only for the fact that they can no longer get their rocks off. But as a woman, I completely agree with you that there's something almost vexing about making Lara seem downright uncomfortable with her femininity. You're right, seeing this character go against what is expected of a feminine woman by being so badass is part of what made her so unique, appealing and inspiring as a young girl.
Overall, it didn't sit right with me how this Lara came across like she actually hated herself. Where's the confidence? Where's the sass and irreverence? Tying into that, this sort of overcompensation just cheapened her character. I never looked at Lara Croft as some paragon of morality. If anything, when I revisited the games for the first time as an adult (remasters), I had to raise an eyebrow and go: "Oh, she's kind of terrible, isn't she?" Did that put me off? No, I smiled and kept playing, because expecting a deep sense of ethics from an actual tomb raider would just be hypocritical. Trying to present her now as if she's suddenly so morally conscious is just goofy. And on that topic, I really appreciated getting your perspective as an Irish person. I think you're absolutely justified in not allowing ignorant people to invalidate that experience.
Honestly, I didn't hate nor love the show and I'll tune in for the 2nd season, but that's only because after the first couple of episodes, I made a conscious effort of disconnecting this experience from the one I've had with the games. Which I guess wasn't that hard for me since I'm not that familiar with the reboots, remakes and all that, so I already didn't have much of an opinion on that Lara. If anything, I'm glad I happened to watch your Legend and Underworld playthroughs right before the show came out since that helped soften the whiplash a bit at least. Really, I only ever cared about the original games. But for someone such as you who has invested so much of yourself into the franchise over the years, I can imagine how the many questionable choices they made in this show would come across as tone-deaf and insulting to not only the fans, but to Core Design as well as Lara's character.
Anyway, thank you for soldiering on for the sake of this video, despite having such a poor time with it! You're one true Raider, Suzanne 🫡
(Sorry this got so long after all, woops 😶)
Yes! This Lara seemed to hate herself, perfectly put. And I just hate the implication that anyone who is curvy or has a large bust is not a “realistic” woman or is automatically sexualised and catering to the male gaze. As someone who myself is naturally very curvy, that is insulting. I can’t help my body and I shouldn’t feel ashamed of it. I am not catering to anything by existing. We don’t have to mock and erase one type of woman to celebrate and uplift another.
Exactly, Lara was always morally ambiguous and I don’t think they ever pretended otherwise in the classics. We’re not looking at her to shape our moral compass, we’re loving her because she’s cool and badass and goes on these fun adventures ❤️
Thanks so much for watching and I’m so glad you enjoyed the review 🥰
Being feminine is not woke enough in this day and age. It is also one of the huge reasons this show failed. Fefreshing to see someone that speaks out about it. Next time do not get defensive immediately about supporting feminine characters.
I really didn’t like how they changed Lara’s look .face was made very well, but her hair ,body, outfits ,mannerism, her talking to ppl and overall character all was wrong for me personally as a fan since 1996. Two things I really liked was her face it was well made and…. Zip somehow I feel like we got little more mature version of zip from tr5 (yes he was gay as f***in classic game for ppl saying he wasn’t).
Very nice video im shooked u managed to find so many good words for this anime!❤
Thank you for the review Suzanne ... regarding the anime - your scores ... the good 8 minutes, the bad 19 minutes ... overall a miss 👎🏻 . I have not seen the anime, I presume it's like a cartoon serial, but I'm not surprised you didn't like it, I wouldn't have either. The times have beaten you as they did me a long time ago, am I saying you're too old to appreciate it? ... no, of course not.
It is woke! ... the native chief character that was 'offended' and the others on his behalf of course means that Lara is guilty of offence (NOT) ... all the angst, self doubt, feelings, pronouns, gender reassignment ... but it is only what I expected. It is not just Crystal Dynamics it is the whole of western society that has been infiltrated. I like the early CD games as well as Eidos / Core Design ones, some are good, indeed great, but some not so much. I think you have to consider the current iteration of Crystal Dynamics and their 'feud' differently. I feel as though I've been on the HG Wells time machine sometimes, having seen the death of humour and personality flash past.
A couple of bright points for me were (i) seeing you enraptured by Lara with her pistols ... seriously you did look 6 years old! and (ii) standing up for femininity.
I loved the Binxy moments and it was only this morning I was feeding ham to Malcolm and Harley (short for Harlequin), cats do love it.
I am also a die-hard Tomb Raider fan, Bruce Willis and Lara Croft what a combo that would be ☺. Lots of love Suzanne 👏🏻🙌🏻
ohh nooo dealy 😟 the start of your second paragraph😕 I am so sad to see you say things like this .. I was not expecting this.. There is no need for trans or non binary people to receive shade for a mediocre show! People just want to live their lives in peace you know, they do not want to make your favourite characters anything... or infiltrate anything. People just want to be seen and live in peace..
@@alkemistes I can concur with your sentiment. I've loved Suzanne's review and how she's put forth her thoughts in a critical but still inclusive manner. However, in other areas of the TR community I've been quite put off by how culture wars and politics have overtaken the talking points to where it's difficult to even have a discussion about the series' flaws without people denigrating certain groups or movements. Suzanne's review of the show is the only one I've dared to even watch because in every other online space the critiques are no doubt marred by certain "opinions" that are centered around culture wars rather than the franchise.
Yes, we prefer original Lara's characterization and do not want that changed. No, we do not have to throw shade at other communities in response.
@@vindifference exactly this!! when we talk about Lara, we can simply keep it about Lara. And indeed Suzanne did a great job at that!
I like to think the anime does what Rise and Shadow of the Tomb Raider should’ve done years ago, and that was to actually address Lara’s PTSD aswell as have her grieve in order to move her character forward.
Not to discredit those games but after watching the Netflix series, Rise and Shadow almost feel like unnecessary padding as they didn’t really do much in the way of Lara’s development.
So now the anime has to tie up any loose ends when going forward with this unification as it seems like Crystal Dynamics are trying to course correct the narrative misteps they made after TR 2013.
Atleast Lara is now actively embracing those classic traits we all know and love again. I haven’t seen her be this witty and sassy since the Alicia Vikander movie in 2018.
This is an interesting point!
i am a ++ in the lbtqxyz++ commune, my pronouns are it/its.
we are inclusive and so respect your views and opinions and we welcome you white pretty sexy white feminine woman into our diversity. 😅
I can't agree with You on the whole racism in TR think. We cant pretend its not there, it has to be addressed in some way. Was it done properly in the series is the whole other issue, but I dont think pretending its not there is tha solution here. Granted, Uncharted, Tomb Raider and indiana Jones all have this problem. This genre is based on inherently racists ideas. The Idea one can just walk in and take stuff from other culture is racist. You may think that this has no real life repercussions, but I'd like to remind You this is exactly the reson that British Museum gives for not returning their stolen artifacts. Thay say thay have to do this since ppl in this third world countries cant take proper care of them. So this whole image of primitive tribes living around huge abandoned temples is playing into this and is inherently racist. I'd like to also add, that first conquistadors did actively destroy Maya writing and stone buildings since, they had to give the idea that those are primitive ppl that are being saved by "civilised" europeans. Any evidence to the contrary was being actively destroyed.
As much as I love those type of games and movies, they do need to reinvent them selfs. And I would love them even more if instead of being part of the problem and spreading some harmful ideas, they would have become part of the solution.
You may be surprised Zenzej but I think you make some good points, I don't stick up for white imperialism or the condescension of indigenous peoples. I think it is possibly part of the unconscious bias that British people like me supposedly have, although I don't think the makers were aware of that in the original series (unconscious yeah?) and to be fair it was not in their scope. Should these issues be explored in the anime and contemporary games, mmm! I'm not sure, what do you think?
@@dealyboy its not only unconscious, but also we all are (and so is any art we produce) a product of our time. I dont blame creators at Core, its just Tomb raider, as it was back then, was a product of its time, inlcuding technological advancements and social norms. As everything it should adapt, or it will die out, and I would hate for the second one to happen.
@@alpha1solace Jesus, where all this is comming from? I did not get the idea, it is how it was sold to the europeans back home. the narrative was "Those are backwards ppl, we need to civilise them and christianise".
"That isnt racist, that is the way some people genuinely choose to live." - This is modern mindset, not the one on which Indiana Jones and others were based and that is kinda the point.
Also Spanish are european, its european colonialism, not just british, dunno where this one came from as well. There were multiple colonial powers.