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Lara Croft vs. Tony Stark - a comparison of Earth's mightiest defenders


I watched “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001) recently. It is not nearly the deep exploration of the human psyche I remembered. Maybe that is why I had time to think that her story has a lot of similarities to the MCU Iron Man, just smashed into a single movie. There is not the same degree of character growth for Croft as for Stark, but there is an archetype here that stuck me.

They are both:

  • Athletic with distinctly styled dark brown hair

  • Exceptionally smart & adventurous

  • Utilize clever tools and gadgets

  • Snarky / Funny / Patronizing to the people around

  • Attended to by an attractive personal assistant

  • Rich / Entitled / Play(boy/girl) / Philanthropist-ish

  • Compelled to protect the world from BIG evil

  • Driven by living up to a relationship with father


In terms of contrasts:

Laura Croft rides a motorcycle, listens to hip-hop and talks with a posh (and yet reed thin) English accent.

Tony Stark was able to build [a hockey puck sized nuclear reactor] in a cave! With a box of scraps! 

(Jeff Bridges is the best)

That sums them up.


I am not sure that there is the same character development for video games as there is for comic books. I suspect LC started as an aesthetic style first, and her persona came in later - probably a lot of it being rounded out as part of the movie making. In contrast - TS has been a character in the making since his origin in the 60’s. 


Regardless, I wonder if this list is what young males dream about being. More likely this is what movie studios, comic book publishers, and video game designers can package that they think that young males should dream about being. That is probably how these archetypes are defined - a smoking hot meatloaf of relatable and unrealistic characteristics with just enough clothes + makeup to get you to think that could really be you (for about 110 minutes anyway).


As an aside - if you decide to gift “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” with a rewatch, let me know what you think about Rachel Weisz’ husband’s accent - it was a real hit and miss thing for me. He had it cranked up an octave to get his ‘Murican on. I think he tried his best, but it is glaringly obvious that after a while they gave up and ADR’d much of his dialogue. If you get confused and end up watching the 2003 “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life” instead - that is Gerry Butler, and he doesn’t bother trying to sound anything but Scottish. Thank goodness.

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