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Lara Croft (born 14th Feb, 1972) is the titular main protagonist of the Tomb Raider film duology: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Cradle of Life.
She was portrayed by Angelina Jolie; Lara's younger self in the first film was portrayed by Rachel Appleton.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Following her mother's death in 1976, Lara became the heir-countess, and following her father's believed death on 15th May, 1985, became the owner to the Abbington Estate in Buckinghamshire, England.
She became like her father, an archaeologist, on the trail of mythological artefacts which she donated to the British Museum. Lara hired computer technical wiz, Bryce, who worked for her at the Croft Estate as her technical assist. Bryce took up residence in a caravan in the front courtyard of the manor.
Tomb Raider[]
Lara Croft's adventure in 2001 started by finding an antique clock in a hidden room under the stairs. With the help of Bryce and butler Hillary, she found The Clock hidden inside an ancient clock. Seeking answers she went to an auction, to meet an old friend Wilson. Wilson sent her to Manfred Powell, who unknown to her was a member of the Illuminati. After the meeting with Manfred, Lara's Estate was attacked by the Illuminati, and the The Clock stolen. Following her father's instruction that were hidden in a book, she tracked down the first location of the Triangle of Light, Tomb of the Dancing Light in Cambodia. She figured out that the obvious keyhole on the floor was false, and convinced Manfred to toss her the Key. She then took an opportunity to take the first half of the Triangle of the Light. Lara traveled to Venice to confront Manfred and discovered him to be the member of the Illuminati. Manfred then reveals that Lara's father was also member of the Illuminati. Lara accepted Manfred's proposal to join forces and retrieve the last half of the Triangle of Light. The flew to Siberia and traveled to the Lost City by dogsleds. There hidden in a planetarium was the other half of the Triangle. After retrieving it, she gave it to the Illuminati, knowing that it wouldn't be reforged. Manfred however killed Alex West forcing Lara to reveal the last missing piece hidden inside the The Clock. She tossed the The Clock into a time anomaly, and retrieved the "grain of sand". Reforging the Triangle transported Lara and Manfred into the City of Light, where she won the race to the top of the pyramid, thus gaining control over the Triangle. She went to see her father one last time before, coming back to the present time, just before Manfred killed Alex. While the time was still standing still, Lara turned the knife around in mid air and Manfred himself was struck with it. She then shot the Triangle of Light and it was destroyed. Manfred revealed that it was he that killed Lara's father. Lara went back for him, and they fought for a while ending with Lara killing Manfred, and taking back his father's pocket watch.
Cradle of Life[]
While exploring the Luna Temple in Greece, she finds the Mati left there by Alexander the Great. They are attacked, and the Orb is stolen by Chen Lo's men. Lara is then tasked by the MI6 to find the Pandora's Box that Jonathan Reiss is after. Lara accepts the mission on a condition that she can use a man she knew a way back, Terry Sheridan, who is in prison in Kazakhstan. After getting Terry released, they travel to China to retrieve the Mati from the Shay Ling. Terry's plan is to be captured by Chen Lo, as it is the only way to find their current base of operations. They learn that Mati has been already taken by Chen Lo's brother Xien Lo to Shanghai. Lara and Terry travel there but are unable to retrieve it. They then infiltrate Reiss' lab in Hong Kong, and manage to get the Orb back. Lara lets Bryce decipher the orb with sound and learn the location to the Cradle of Life. Lara travels to Tanzania, Africa, and meets up with Kosa, who is a translator for a tribe near the Kilimanjaro. Reiss too arrives and threatens to kill Hillary and Bryce. They then travel through the forest full of Shadow Guardians. Only Lara, Reiss and Terry manage to reach the Cradle of Life and find the Pandora's Box. Reiss and Lara fight over it and Reiss is killed when he falls into the acid. Terry also wants the box for himself and draws a gun, but Lara is faster and shoots Terry, killing him. Lara then contemplates opening the Pandora's Box, but decides against it and pushes it back into the pool of acid.
Personality[]
Lara doesn't seem to care much for her aristocratic background.
When Lara wants a relic, she's going to get it, even if she has to kill everyone and everything that gets in her way. Of course, she has saved the world, many times, by preventing powerful artifacts from falling into the wrong hands. But she only found herself in these situations by accident, while she was looking for the artifact to be just another item in her collection and, by chance, there was someone else after the same object.
She is a brave, intelligent and prudent woman, showing no signs of fear in dangerous moments. Lara is also capable of killing in cold blood without showing remorse, as when she shot and killed Terry Sheridan when he turned against her and wanted the Pandora's Box for himself.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The 2001 film is the highest-grossing action film with a female lead.
- Milla Jovovich, Denise Richards, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman, and Liv Tyler all auditioned for the role of Lara.
- Jolie wore breast implants for the 2001 film, but not the 2003 film. In-universe, Lara had a breast reduction between the events of the two films.
- This is one of the few convincing American portrayals of an English character, alongside Shuler Hensley as Frankenstein's monster in Van Helsing, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, and Jennifer Hale voicing Jennifer Mui in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
- Filming the scenes where Lara drives her Land Rover through the jungle there had to be endless re-shoots due to snakes and other wildlife falling through the open top roof. Angelina Jolie herself was reported to be terrified.
- Angelina Jolie agreed to do the first film because of all the locations she would get to visit. She fell in love with Cambodia, leading her to move there and help with a minefield cleanup. It was also where she met and eventually adopted her first son, Maddox.
- Angelina Jolie was extremely hesitant towards wearing Lara's famous short shorts that she wears in the games, and the opening fight scene with Simon. However, she eventually agreed, because she knew it would make the fans of the character happy.
- Angelina Jolie was put into boot camp and worked out for 6 days a week doing six or seven disciplines per day to get in shape for the film. She had special weight training and had to go on special diets including a program of vitamins, teas and protein shakes with high protein and low carbohydrates. She started training 3 months before shooting. She was also taught kickboxing. She never took yoga before. She would start with yoga at 6 AM.
Licensing[]
This article contains content derived from the "Lara Croft (2001 Movie Timeline)" article on the Tomb Raider Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.