How To Catch Up On All Things Lara Croft Before The 'Tomb Raider' Reboot Hits Theaters

Lara Croft is getting a do-over. The relic-hunting heroine originated as a video game character in 1996's Tomb Raider before making the leap to the big screen in 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie. That film spawned a sequel in 2003, The Cradle of Life, but that was the last fans saw of the character at the movies. Now, with a Tomb Raider reboot hitting theaters, it's a good idea for fans to discover where to watch Lara Croft: Tomb Raider so they can prep for the new take on the character.

Thankfully, watching the first Tomb Raider movie is very easy to do at the moment. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is streaming on Netflix, so if you have a subscription, you can watch Jolie go adventuring as the legendary heroine whenever you want. If you're one of the few who is not a Netflix subscriber, you can still rent the movie online starting at $2.99 from all of the usual suspects (iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, etc.) The look of that movie was based on the original run of Tomb Raider games, which you may recall, featured a supernatural storyline and a Lara Croft that wasn't exactly proportionally realistic. The game franchise was rebooted in 2013 with an all-new Lara, one that looks like an actual human, as well as a grittier and more realistic storyline. So is the new Tomb Raider film based on the original games, or the new, rebooted version?

The new film, which stars Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, is a reboot in every sense of the word. The old Tomb Raider is no more, and the new film is based on the 2013 rebooted version of the game in both the look of the character and the storyline, which is expected to be more grounded (Jolie's first film featured a relic that could alter time). "It was important to us that this was a new origin story for the big screen and that there's a new Lara Croft that we want to introduce to audiences," director Roar Uthaug told CNET's Sarah McDermott. "We wanted to create, of course, this kick-ass female action hero, but she's also vulnerable. And that was important in this movie, that there's an emotional connection there. That she's relatable."

Vikander has also spoken of this new version of Lara Croft, and how the character has been desexualized for modern audiences compared to her buxom origins. "Lara Croft has been this sex symbol, but films from back then, oh, my God, the view they had of women and power is so different. She had to be brought into our time." Vikander told Phoebe Reilly of American Way. The actress also discussed how the new Tomb Raider is more relatable than her predecessor. "This is a girl trying to figure out what path she’s going to take in life, and there’s a lot of pressure on her," she said. "She’s like me when I was 20."

But just because the two incarnations are very different, that doesn't mean there's animosity between the new and the old; nor does it mean they can't both exist in their own space. "[Angelina] made that an iconic role," Vikander told Total Film Magazine, according to the publication's sister site, Games Radar. "I knew we wouldn’t be able to redo that, and that’s not what we’re trying to do either. We go back to the beginning, and tell the origin story."

Even though Tomb Raider is reinventing the character seen in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, that doesn't mean the original movie will disappear into obscurity. The film is currently streaming on Netflix, so check it out if you're interested in seeing how far Lara Croft has come.