TOMB RAIDER (Trailer F1)
The TOMB RAIDER (Trailer F1) (aka First Trailer) is a theatrical trailer for the Reboot Movie starring Alicia Vikander. It was released on 19 September 2017 (20 September local time in Europe/Asia).
The Trailer's running time is about 2 minutes 10 seconds. A 15 second teaser trailer was released on 18 September.
A second trailer was released on 18 January 2018.
Contents
Content
The Trailer is cut so it takes place in at least two different time lines. One tells Lara's background story about her life in England and how she ended up on the island, the other is about her adventures on the island.
The Trailer starts off with Lara running through a jungle, then cuts to the lobby of Croft Holdings in London, the business her father headed. The receptionists asks her name and obviously is surprised to learn who she is; presumably she has not been here recently.
After a short cut back to the island and the producing company's logos we witness a flashback to a young Lara talking to her father in the gardens at Croft Manor. Back inside Croft Holdings, Lara - while talking to her relatives (or managers of the company; this is not made completely clear) - absent-mindedly opens a wooden puzzle box to discover a key that later on opens the family crypt. Here she discovers her father's research into Trinity and a message to her her recorded before his disappearance. He talks about a tomb he discovered, called Mother of Death, and warns her that if Trinity succeeds in their plans the world would be in danger. He then goes on to ask her for a promise to stop them before it is too late, his voice being cut over some scenes of puzzle solving and fighting on the island. Back down inside the crypt, "I promise," she tells him, still holding the camera. (This is in contradiction to the previously published Synopsis[1], where it was stated that she goes against his wishes in perusing this adventure.)
The Trailer continues with Lara's journey to the island where the tomb her father talked about is hidden: It is located right in the middle of the Devil's Sea. Her captain, Lu Ren, warns that "death is not an adventure". On the way their ship is being hit by a storm and after some scenes reminiscent of the Reboot Game intro video - Lara trying to leave the sinking ship; note the backpack when she jumps off - she ends up on an unknown beach and is hit over the head with the butt of a rifle by an unseen assailant.
On the island she meets the primary antagonist of the film, Mathias Vogel, announcing that she "shouldn't have come here. But I'm glad that you did." It seems she stumbled upon some excavation. But she isn't a prisoner for very long as the next scene takes us back to the jungle, Lara running and shooting arrows, or escaping with her hands bound; although it looks like she has taken the opportunity to discuss her father with her captor first.
In a voice-over her father's video message tells her to "close the tomb once and for all", while we see Lara solving puzzles and escaping deadly traps.
The trailer ends with another round of action sequences - Lara falling into a ravine, or standing on the wreckage of an old plane about to collapse - and with a flashback to London, where she buys weapons for her adventures in a pawnshop. Holding up her iconic dual pistols, she tells the seller "I'll take two!"
Director's Commentary
A Director's Commentary to the trailer featuring Roar Uthaug was made available later on 20 September on IGN.
In this commentary Roar starts off with telling us that he always has been a big fan of the Indiana Jones movies as well as strong female characters, so - after what he saw Square had done with the Reboot Games - he wanted to do the new movie as soon as it became clear that it was in the making. He sees the new movie as an origins story, where we witness Lara becoming the Tomb Raider.
Roar thinks that Croft Manor plays a very important role in the film, so he and his team went all over the UK looking for a suitable building, finally finding it in Wilton House.
As for casting Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, he wanted to stay close to the look of Lara in the reboot games. What he found most outstanding about Alicia was that she was pushing her limits, just as Lara does. She also studied the games and the rest of the franchise to give an accurate representation of Lara. In preparing for the role, Alicia had to go through extensive physical and stunt training, so she was able to do as many of the stunts herself.
Another important part for a Tomb Raider movie are puzzles and tombs. He feels excited about sharing those with the viewer. This includes the traps that were specifically created for the film.
The shipwreck from the first reboot game was another iconic part that was included in the movie. Roar admits that the ship is not exactly like the Endurance, but the important parts like the storm and the sinking are essentially the same. The set of the ship was build on a gimbal so that it could be moved in many different directions. Water canons were used to give the impression of waves and spray hitting the deck.
As soon as Lara lands on the island the movie turns into a survival story, which was exactly what Roar thought it should be all about. On the island, he felt, the Bow and arrow was the natural weapon, and it was the main weapon in the reboot games, so it was also included. The same goes for the climbing Axe, being extremely recognizable.
In conclusion, a lot of details from the games went into the film, but it also tells a new story. It is not a copy of the games.
Release History
A Twitter posting by Alicia[2], posted on 15 September 2017, suggested a first trailer would be released within the coming weeks. According to the British Board of Film Classification, the trailer has been sent in for review on 14 September[3]. The submitted running time is 2 minutes 10 seconds. Shortly before the release of the trailer, a leaked version appeared on Instagram, but this has been taken down within the hour, nut not before it had been promoted by many news outlets.
