Lara Croft, the legend of Tomb Raider begins

We dare say just about anyone consuming modern day media would know who is Lara Croft even without playing the video games. As the lead protagonist in the Tomb Raider action-adventure video games over the last 2 decades, Lara Croft is one of the most recognisable pop culture characters today. In addition to starring in multiple video game releases since 1996, Lara Croft has also appeared in comic books, novels, an animated series and two movies released in 2001 and 2003 starring the voluptuous Angelina Jolie.

By 2015, Tomb Raider games have sold over 63 million copies worldwide (source Wikipedia). Its best-selling release to-date is 2013's tenth edition reboot Tomb Raider game, developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. The game series has received much critical acclaim being a pioneer of the action-adventure genre with Lara Croft also standing out as a strong female character in a largely male-dominated video gaming market in the 1990's. Although the latter was not without some controversy due to marketing her sex appeal to the male audience as well as improbable human proportions.

Lara Croft has of course evolved with the times so to say. Gaming technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the last 20 years, thereby evolving the world's most famous female cyber celebrity from a pixelated figurine with heightened centre of gravity, to a near human rendering with more realistic anatomy; see below:

Evolution of Lara Croft's look in video games since 1996 to 2013.
Source: https://ruby290930.deviantart.com/

For more about the Tomb Raider video games, we will let the folks at Honest Trailers share their thoughts with you all (and LOL over!):

Lara Croft has been missing from the cinemas for 15 years with Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life released in 2003 to box office numbers far below expectation. It also coincided with a poorly received sixth video game instalment titled Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, putting the franchise of hiatus from annual game releases until its tenth anniversary in 2006 with the release of Tomb Raider: Legend.

Angelina Jolie's last outing as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)

Whilst we agree with critics and not a fan this second movie outing, we do dig the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider as a fun action-adventure with the very endowed Angelina Jolie who at that time was an ideal fit for bringing the pixel princess to real-life. Here's reliving 70 seconds of Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft from the first movie trailer:

BTW, fan girls of Daniel Craig take note he also stars in this movie prior to taking on the mantle of James Bond.

Outpost Intel: This movie is also a great travel commercial for Cambodia where key scenes were filmed in Siem Reap at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor Wat. The Ta Prohm temple serves as a key scene for Lara and now readily accessible to movie fans to explore on their own. However today the temple complex is far from "abandoned" since Cambodia has opened its doors wide to tourists from around the world. Read more about this film site from Beyond the Movies blog and watch the scenes on YouTube. FYI, daily flights are available from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Siem Reap via Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines.

This year, Lara Croft finally returns, not as a Sequel to the prior two movies, but a Prequel. Academy Award winning actress Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl - Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress, Jason Bourne, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ex Machina) lands the role of Lara Croft as the young woman presented in 2013's Tomb Raider reboot game. Check out the movie trailer below which incorporates a slower, and dramatic music remix of Destiny’s Child’s "Survivor":

Official movie synopsis for Tomb Raider

Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now a young woman of 21 without any real focus or purpose, Lara navigates the chaotic streets of trendy East London as a bike courier, barely making the rent, and takes college courses, rarely making it to class. Determined to forge her own path, she refuses to take the reins of her father’s global empire just as staunchly as she rejects the idea that he’s truly gone. Advised to face the facts and move forward after seven years without him, even Lara can’t understand what drives her to finally solve the puzzle of his mysterious death. Going explicitly against his final wishes, she leaves everything she knows behind in search of her Dad’s last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. But her mission will not be an easy one; just reaching the island will be extremely treacherous. Suddenly, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Lara, who - against the odds and armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit - must learn to push herself beyond her limits as she journeys into the unknown. If she survives this perilous adventure, it could be the making of her, earning her the name Tomb Raider.

Source: Warner Bros. UK

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Tomb Raider is the story that will set a young and resolute Lara Croft on a path toward becoming a global hero. The movie is directed by Roar Uthaug (The Wave) and also starring Dominic West (The Wire) as Lara's father Lord Richard Croft, Walton Goggins (The Shield) as apparent villain Mathias Vogel, Daniel Wu (Warcraft, Into the Badlands, Gen-X Cops) as potential "sidekick" Lu Ren, and Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) as Ana Miller.

Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft (right) finds an ally in Lu Ren played by Daniel Wu.
Source: IMDB.com

Walther Goggins as Mathias Vogel (right) seems to be doing the tomb raiding instead... for the time being.
Source: IMDB.com

In an exclusive early interview for GQ.com, Norwegian Director Roar Uthaug said that his movie delves deeper into Lara Croft's humanity beginning as a young woman with great spirit and potential who through her journey and struggles will earn the title of Tomb Raider. About the production, Uthaug drew a lot of inspiration and reference from the game and the entire Tomb Raider canon to develop this vision of the world that Lara inhabits. He thinks fans of the franchise would definitely recognise "touchstones" from the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot game throughout the story, although this Lara will be very grounded and realistic, not a superhero. Therefore the action sequences will feel real and visceral to the movie audience instead of a CGI-feast. About leading lady Alicia Vikander, Uthaug is all praise for the new Lara Croft in providing great depth and humanity to the character yet delivering intense physical action.

Listen to Alicia Vikander on "Becoming Lara Croft". Looking real fierce, girl!

Indeed the Swedish actress went through intense physical training over four months before shooting to get into the role of Lara Croft. Prior to Tomb Raider, Vikander had "never done action scenes on this level" as quoted in an interview by Elle.com. She shared that the training intensity felt like going back to dancing, having to be very aware of movements for wire-work. "I've never been able to lift my own weight, and the day when you have that capacity, it's pretty empowering!" she added. Vikander certain looks to be doing many stunts herself, impressing her male co-stars Dominic West, Walter Goggins and Daniel Wu. A star of many Hong Kong action flicks and more recently as Sunny AMC's Into the Badlands mini-series, Wu described Vikander as a "beast" when it comes to the movie action and as a first-time action star has "taken the bull by the horns". Read more about Daniel Wu from his recent interview with Star2.com where his shares on his acting career, experience with Tomb Raider and his First Love.

Speaking of Daniel Wu, he's a pretty famous face around Asia and so warrants his own movie poster here.

Fans may indeed come to embrace Alicia Vikander as the new Lara Croft as she herself was a fan of Tomb Raider when the video game was first released. During an interview on The Graham Norton Show, she shared that at the age of ten none of her girl friends played video games so she felt ashamed of doing so. Nevertheless it was first encountering Tomb Raider at a friend's house that sold her into the fandom with Lara Croft being a female game protagonist, which had never been seen on video games before then. Yes, in the present day and age it is most certainly cool for girls (geeky or otherwise) to play video games! About people's vision of Lara Croft and her upcoming version, Vikander flat out joked that "My breasts are not as pointy as the first Lara Croft".

Alicia Vikander in the forthcoming movie very much resembles Lara Croft as seen in the 2013 Tomb Raider game  (above), sans "pointy breasts".
Source: Art by Brenoch Adams from www.videogamesartwork.com

At the time of this posting, there are no online reviews for this latest Tomb Raider movie. However, Malaysian Tomb Raider fans and gamers should to be ecstatic this week because we are amongst the earliest in the world to be able to watch this movie from tonight / Wednesday 7 March from sneak previews. The general nationwide movie release is officially tomorrow / Thursday 8 March, which is still over a week ahead of release in the United States. So for you all catching this movie first in the world, be nice and do not post SPOILERS on social media threads that would be followed by Tomb Raider fans in other parts of the world. Here are non-spoilery reactions by Outpost friends from an sneak preview night screening:

UPDATE 14 MARCH 2018: Here are movie reviews by Star2.com and Hype.my plus podcast by BFM's At The Movies.

Follow the latest updates on the official Tomb Raider - 2018 Facebook Page,  Tomb Raider movie on Facebook, @TombRaiderMovie on Twitter and Instagram, and locally via Warner Bros. Pictures Malaysia Facebook Page.

As a tribute to the Tomb Raider franchise celebrating the return of Lara Croft to cinemas, Outpost Productions will be posting daily cosplay photos inspired from the upcoming movie via our social media channels:

• Follow us on Instagram @OutpostMY.
• Like us on Facebook as Outpost Productions.

This is our first photo reveal on Monday this week with more to follow:

This week Tomb Raider fans can rejoice with the return of Lara Croft to cinemas. As a tribute to the franchise, we will be posting cosplay photos daily this week of Lara in our Malaysian jungle. #instaphoto #instagood #cosplay #costuming #TombRaider #LaraCroft #movie #prequel #tribute #fandom #gamer #geekgirl #justgoshoot #photooftheday #dailyphoto #hot #panas #Malaysia #jungle #followme #likelah #like4like

A post shared by OutpostMY (@outpostmy) on Mar 5, 2018 at 5:44am PST

Many thanks to cosplayer Micho the Haram-bae and photographer Limelight Fotography for their time and effort on this photo shoot in the real Malaysian tropical forest.

We also shot a new Cosplay Fight Club fan video where we paired up characters from geek pop cultures in unlikely match-ups never likely to happen in the complicated world of Intellectual Properties rights and so forth. So here's our face-off video of Lara Croft versus Indiana Jones:

Now for our regular Malaysian readers who like to win stuff, the Outpost Movie Recon Team (M.R.T.) has identified GSC Cinemas to be giving away cool stuff through Q&A on their Facebook Page starting 8 March. Looking at the contest teaser poster the prize pool may include a Playstation 4 game console! So stay tuned to announcements tomorrow.

GSC looks to be giving away tomb raided loot.

Meanwhile, Premium-X Cinemas in OneCity USJ have also commenced their contest giving away movie premiums. To participate, find answers to three questions posed on their Facebook posting, then submit via email. Contest closes 15 March 2018.

Movie premiums to be won from Premium-X cinemas.

For fan girls of Lara Croft (and maybe even fan boys), an official Barbie doll of Lara Croft is available from Mattel. This version will be based on the likeness of Alicia Vikander in this upcoming movie. The doll, or action figure, is fully articulated as revealed by IGN so fan collectors will be able to pose Lara in here kick@$$ action poses. We do not yet have intel whether Barbie Lara will be available from local toy stores or hobby shops. Those who cannot wait to find out may look into purchasing online from Amazon.com priced at USD29.99 / RM117 before shipping & taxes.

If Ken gets out of line, Lara will put him in his place!

Follow this Blog to be instantly notified on our latest posts from the geek pop culture world and other intel.

Tomb Raider runs 122 minutes and releases in Malaysia on 8 March with sneak previews starting 7 March night at selected cinemas.

Disclaimer: Tomb Raider, Lara Croft and other trademarks are copyright to Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix and/or Warner Bros. Pictures, and their respective owners, referenced here for fan service announcements only without intent to infringe.

Warcraft The Movie Casts Its Magic on Viewers with Spectacular Special Effects

Gamers who have been fans of the World of Warcraft MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) for more than a decade will definitely be waiting with bated breath for the sweeping epic of a movie that is based on this well established game. Generations of Warcraft fans will be feted tomorrow when the movie is released on June 9th in Malaysia.  The movie looks extremely impressive from the outset as it combines high definition 3D CGI effects with live action acting.

The two main protagonists, Sir Anduin Lothar and Durotan.

Sensual Garona Halforcen, the half orc, half human facing a great dilemma.

Warcraft: The Beginning is directed by Duncan Jones, who interestingly, is the son of the late British singer David Bowie. This is his first high budget CGI film as his previous credits include smaller scale movies like Moon and Source Code. The movie is a partnership between Legendary Pictures and Blizzard Entertainment, the game producers. In order to get a sense of how the plotline plays out, here’s the cinematic trailer:

This first Warcraft movie takes place in Azeroth and chronicles the first contact between Orcs and Humans. Not many of the other races in the Warcraft Universe are given much emphasis, as the focus here is on the battle between the two main races. The story begins with Gul’dan, a powerful Orc who is attempting to unite all the orcish clans together as their home world, Draenor is dying. He uses a special magic called ‘Fel’ to create a portal to send hordes of orcs to other lands to conquer it. However, in order to keep the portal open, lives must be sacrificed, and thus begins the Orcs’ destructive campaign.

Lothar swoops down on his Gryphon during an epic battle scene.

However, in the midst of this chaos, Durotan, chief of the orcish clan of Frostwolf has different ideas from the rest of his kind and wants to pursue cooperation with humans. He therefore forms an alliance with Sir Anduin Lothar, military commander of Azeroth and King Llane. In the midst of this the party teams up with Garona, a half orc, half human being who is struggling to decide where her loyalties lie, as well as Medivh, the fabled Guardian who will help them with understanding the Fel’s power and limitations. Together, their choices will determine the future of their race, and the future of the world as they know it.

If the trailers are anything to go by, we can expect well done action and fight scenes with extremely good visual effects. The cast here include Travis Fimmel as Sir Anduin Lothar. You may remember him if you’re a history fan and watch Vikings on the History channel as he plays the main protagonist. Paula Patton, Ben Foster and Dominic Cooper form the rest of the live action cast while Toby Cooper provides the voice of Durotan and Daniel Wu as Gul’dan the antagonist Orc leader. 

Sinister Gul’dan, leader of the Orcs, is voiced and motion-captured by Daniel Wu.

Director Duncan Jones did mention in an interview with Reuters that he drew inspiration from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. You can read more of the interview here to learn more about the behind the scenes work. Learn how ILM crafted the CGI of the movie in painstaking detail in this video:

Some of the dwarfs in the movie. Don’t they look familiar, perhaps from a movie about a very powerful Ring?

It’s really amazing the amount of work and intense concentration that goes into crafting a single scene in this movie. Check out the movie Premiere in Hollywood earlier this week:

The black carpet was buzzing with excitement last night at the #WarcraftMovie premiere. Check it out!

Posted by Warcraft on Tuesday, 7 June 2016

The Malaysian movie Premiere was held on Wednesday 8 June 2016 at various locations. At the GSC 1 Utama Premiere, cosplayers were sighted of Garona and apprentice wizard Khadgar. Plus a number of guests had fun wielding Doomhammer.

Cosplay for Garona (left) and Khadgar.

How many people does it take to lift Doomhammer?
Photo credit: Golden Screen Cinemas Facebook Page.

Our Outpost Expeditions missions to San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) and New York Comic Con (NYCC) last year offered us up-close intel on the awesome costumes and props developed for the movie by the master artists at Weta Workshop.

First reveal of Orgrim Doomhammer at SDCC 2015.

Spectacular armour of King Llane by the Weta masters.

Humans of Azeroth are well dressed for battle.

Like our Outpost Productions Page and check out more photos from the comic cons on our Facebook album. Meanwhile, this featurette of the War Room offers an excellent perspective of the superb work by Weta Workshop:

Find more movie featurettes and character backgrounds at the official Legendary Pictures YouTube Channel and follow the latest updates on Warcraft movie on Facebook.

On the Malaysian homefront, the Outpost Movie Recon Team (M.R.T.) has scouted through the "fog-of-war" to identify various promos and offers available on our shores:

Golden Screen Cinemas is offering a Warcraft E-Combo set at RM150 comprising limited edition Warcraft T-shirts representing the Horde and The Alliance, a Warcraft Edition vanity poster set, game codes, Dolby Atmos vouchers, a large popcorn and 2 regular soft drinks. Be sure to grab your sets quickly as there are only a limited number available at selected cinema locations.

In addition, beginning 9 June together with the movie release, each ticket purchase at GSC will receive a free World of Warcraft game code used to play the MMORPG online. In case you've been hiding under a rock, here's an introductory video of what is World of Warcraft (WoW):

Watch the movie then use your Game Code to play the game. FTW!

Yet there's even more for Warcraft fans at GSC with the opportunity to wield the Doomhammer of the Horde on roadshow! Taking place at selected cinemas, pose with replicas of Doomhammer and/or Lothar's sword for the chance to win movie passes courtesy of Lenovo Malaysia and GSC.

Are you mighty enough to wield the life-sized Doomhammer? Come to GSC 1U this weekend to find out.

2-handed Hammer +5 with Sword -1 (because missing some edges).

Over at TGV Cinemas, join their MovieClub and get a limited edition Warcraft member card, available for a limited time only. If you sign up now online, you can collect your card immediately at the nearest TGV branch near you.

Similarly, MBO Cinemas is also a special Warcraft design Allstar member card. Just sign up as member today and get it any MBO outlet.

Finally mm Cineplexes (formerly Cathay) is giving away Warcraft movie premiums on their Facebook contest. There are tshirts, sling back, cap and more.

Similarly, Premium-X Cinemas are offering movie premiums to their customers showing proof of purchase. Although the actual premiums are not stated, one probably stands a better chance to scoring the giveaways since competition by other customers are limited to just their 1 outlet in OneCity, USJ.

Interestingly Lazada is having a simple Facebook contest to celebrate the film by giving out Warcraft merchandise. Enter by sharing your love of Warcraft by 10 June and hope to be one of 3 winners selected with the most creative answers. Again, actual prizes are not indicated other than items shown in the visual. But if you're up to send some hard earned $$$, Lazada does offer a number of Warcraft movie products like thematic power banks and phone docks.

Lenovo Malaysia as official sponsor for Warcraft is throwing in a Steam voucher, mouse and exclusive Warcraft tshirt with purchase of PC notebooks. Find out more details at the official website.

Jakks Pacific is the official toy manufacturer for the Warcraft movie and actually available here in Malaysia! Sighted at the local Toys R Us and may also be available at major departmental stores. The staple 6in scale action figures are priced at RM199.90 (gulp!) comprising Durotan, Blackhand, Lothar and Medivh, whilst an 18-in giant Durotan is priced at RM399.90. There's also role-play foam weapons of Doomhammer and others although these are undersized as cosplay props. Various World of Warcraft Mega-Bloks construction toys are still available but not associated with the movie.

For a wider assortment of Warcraft movie products. check out the official Blizzard online store for merchandise related to the movie, including cute plushies, lounge pants, posters and even a Mahjong set! The Funko Pop! figurines of the main movie characters are sure to be a hit and likely available soon at our local retailers.

A Warcraft Mahjong Set so you can get the elders involved in your hobby!

For those who literally like to take home a piece of the movie, Weta Workshop offers true sized replicas of 3 Alliance swords and a number of other collectibles including scaled models of Human armour and Orc weapons.

Lothar's 1:1 scaled sword! Do check with local Kastams before ordering replica weapons.

1:6 scale Axe of Duratan for USD49.

If you've decided to experience Warcraft but not in a rush to be first in line, try scoring some free movie tickets using the webe850 app to scan QR codes at selected TGV Cinemas. Their Warcraft Day screening will be taking place on 18 June. Find out more details at the webe website.

Warcraft: The Beginning unleashes tomorrow on 9 June at Malaysian cinemas nationwide. See heroes rise and villains crumble in an epic fantasy cinematic experience see this season. 

Disclaimer: Warcraft and other trademarks are copyright to Blizzard Entertainment and/or Legendary Pictures, and their respective owners, referenced here for fan service announcements only without intent to infringe.