Based on the video game series of the same name, action flick Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) created a new image of the Amazon and launched Angelina Jolie into A-list star status. Since the film’s release, Jolie’s Lara Croft has become a woman warrior, the cinematic female hero as iconic as Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from the Alien series. Jolie’s portrayal of Lara Croft was sexier than that of the original games, where the character’s image was designed to appear more as an adventurous explorer. However, after becoming the biggest video game adaptation ever, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider encouraged future game makers to design the digital version of the heroine to resemble the movie character.

The storyline for the Tomb Raider series is quite simple; Lara journeys to dangerous places, following in the footsteps of her archaeologist father. The first entry in the series, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, follows Lara as she looks for a key to time and space among relics hidden by her father. In the sequel, Jan De Bont’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (2003), Lara takes part in excavating the Luna Temple, built by Alexander the Great, and follows important clues that lead her to an orb which can open Pandora's box. It remains to be seen how Alicia Vikander’s Lara Croft will differ from Angelina Jolie’s, who was praised for her powerful performance. The reboot is currently playing in theaters but it looks unlikely that it will outperform the first two installments. Compared to the box office receipts of the previous two; The first and the second entries grossed USD 274 million and 156 million worldwide, respectively, while the reboot, simply titled Tomb Raider, up to this point, has attracted 466,471 moviegoers in Korea and earned USD 24.7 million.