Rating: ***
Review Date: 6/19/16
Written By: Peter Chung, Brian Pulido, Warren Ellis, Gail Simone, Jim Lee
Cast: Minnie Driver
Contains 10 episodes
"Re\Visioned" is an animated web series of short vignettes written and animated by several different teams. The art direction and style varies wildly across the series, but the one constant is Minnie Driver, who provides the voice and attitude for Lara Croft's crisp and snappy dialog. Peter Chung's "Keys To The Kingdom" is a graphically violent and adrenaline fueled tale of gods, religious artifacts, and secret societies, with the same style and sensibilities as "Aeon Flux" (1993). Brian Pulido's campy "Revenge Of The Aztec Mummy" takes a more humorous Cartoon Network approach (including a farting villain), while "Lara Croft: Legacy" is a tribute to the old "Jonny Quest" cartoons from the 1960's. Gail Simone explores Lara's school years as an adolescent troublemaker in "Pre-Teen Raider", which involves lighthearted hijinks and utilizes a cute and simple style. "Angel Spit" is a more straight forward adventure that sees Lara investigating a cursed Antarctic expedition, while "Raising Thaumopolis" has her exploring a lost underwater kingdom and exchanging quips with a mysterious Anton Cooper. Jim Lee's "A Complicated Woman" takes a more "Danger Girl" approach and recounts several peoples' recent experiences with the famed adventurer.
The episodes are exceedingly short, so there's very little time for character development and complex storytelling. The animation tends to be simplistic and is definitely the weakest element in the series. The writing is actually quite good, and Minnie Driver does an excellent job of embodying Lara Croft's style, charm, personality, and wit. It's a fun and enjoyable take on the Tomb Raider mythos and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's certainly better than the live action films and much more faithful to the source material. Originally shown on GameTap.com, it's a shame the series never got a proper DVD release and only exists through bootleg channels.