Tomb Raider set for a reboot

Just when you thought Hollywood was running out of ideas!....another reboot was announced.

Producer Graham King (The Departed, The Town) announced today that his company GK Films has acquired the film rights to the videogame heroine Lara Croft, and plans to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise. Angelina Jolie played the buxom, gunslinging treasure-hunter in two movies, 2001?s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the more cumbersomely named Lara Craft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life in 2003. Since then, the character has lived on only in videogame form, but King intends to bring her back to theaters at some point in 2013.

The character was created in 1996 by London-based game developer Eidos, and has since been purchased by game publisher Square Enix. Lara Croft has long been a video gaming icon,and after long hiatus from the virtual world, she made a spectacular return in the Guardian of Light Arcade game.

We here are avid video game fanboys, and like many around the world, we are still eagerly awaiting a solid video game adaptation to the silver screen. Tomb Raider has a lot of potential just for the fact that the protagonist is a female action hero, heavily inspired by the swash buckling Indiana Jones.

Not only is there a huge void for such a role, but Indiana Jones type movies always have wide appeal- but seldom are they successful. Recent examples include the atrocious Prince of Persia, and even the last Indiana Jones movie!

But how can this reboot be better than the original? Lara Croft must be a constant underdog. Not only because this is what makes adventure movies so popular, but because a female action hero also needs to overcome audience prejudices.

This is what made Kill Bill so popular. Here was a protagonist that suffered terrible physical pain, but was still able to get back up and kick some serious ass. Now, I am not saying that Tomb Raider should be a R rated movie. It doesn't need blood and gore to achieve that effect. But Lara Croft needs to be depicted as a hard as nails heroine who can take the hits, while remaining charming and witty throughout.

So now the question is, who can embody those qualities? I am going to outright dismiss 2 names already touted, Olivia Wilde and Mila Kunis. They both look far too delicate. Sex appeal should be secondary to the role. It should be the by product of the performance, not the focus. Accordingly, I suggest the following actresses:

Noomi Rapace and Gemma Arterton

Who do you think should play Lara Croft?