Three Reasons to Get Excited About the New Tomb Raider Movie

Usually, when we hear that Hollywood is greenlighting yet another remake, we just groan and sigh. But the report about a Tomb Raider reboot could be really good news, for a few reasons.

1. We need more kick-ass female action stars. The original Tomb Raider flick was released in 2001 — more than a decade ago. Lately, we’ve had the awesome Hanna, the awful Suckerpunch and the epic franchise The Hunger Games. But male-driven action flicks far outnumber ones with women starring in them. Little kids — and adults — who love superheroes and physical feats should be able to see women fight baddies, not just Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and Iron Man.

2. Shocker: Women go to the movies. It’s been proven time and time again, yet we remain an under-served audience. A high-profile flick like Tomb Raider could, once again, like Bridesmaids and Sex And The City, push Hollywood to take chances on lady-centric flicks. Plus, the story adds diversity to the mix, since the narratives about women that often make it to the silver screen involve one, two or all of the three Bs: boys, babies, brides. (There are women on this planet who do other things bedsides fall in love, get married and procreate!)

3. The studio has hired writer Marti Noxon, most famous for penning Buffy The Vampire Slayer episodes. The 2001 Tomb Raider — which had two male screenwriters — was criticized for being sexist (the giant padded bra really was a bit much). With Noxon on board, hopefully Movie Lara Croft 2.0 will be less of a pin-up girl and more like the the fierce Ms. Summers. As Kevin P. Sullivan writes for the MTV movie blog:

You simply do not hire Marti Noxon to write a dumb, sexist “Tomb Raider” rehash. This is hopefully the first sign of a more modern take on the character, one that gamers can be proud of, instead of embarrassed by, and ideally one that young girls can actually look up to for her character and not her supernatural cup size.