Alicia Vikander Takes Over 'Tomb Raider' from Angelina Jolie: A Comparison of the Two Actresses

Alicia Vikander dons boots and shoots a bow and arrow to embody video game icon Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider reboot, picking up the guns from Angelina Jolie who played the character in the 2001 original and its 2003 sequel, The Cradle of Life.

Vikander, hot off the twin 2015 successes of Ex Machina and The Danish Girl (for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) has nothing but praise for the former Lara Croft, telling Entertainment Tonight that Jolie is “definitely the icon of Lara Croft.”

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of where the two actresses were when they stepped into Croft’s famous shoes:

Age: Jolie had just turned 26 when Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was released in 2001. Vikander, by contrast, is now 29 with Tomb Raider out this Friday.
Advantage: Jolie – experience may count in some quarters, but raiding tombs is a young woman’s game.

Hair Color: In both cases, brown.
Advantage: Tie

Filmography at Time of Tomb-Raiding: The original Tomb Raider was Jolie’s 21st credited role, per the Internet Movie Database. It’s Vikander’s 30th on her IMDB page.
Advantage: Vikander

Experience Raiding Tombs: Negligible, in both cases. Jolie was born in Los Angeles and later moved to upstate New York. Vikander was born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, which could make her more of an expert in “old stuff.” Of course, this is a highly subjective conclusion.
Advantage: Tie

Awards and Accolades (Non-Tomb-Raiding Category: Both actresses assumed the Croft mantle after Best Supporting Actress Oscar wins, Vikander for The Danish Girl in 2015 and Jolie for Girl, Interrupted in 1999.
Advantage: Tie

Assorted Other Video Game-Related Credentials: Vikander recently wed Michael Fassbender, who played the titular role in Assassin’s Creed, an adaptation of the popular video game series, and while Jolie has appeared in more action movies since Tomb Raider, none of them were video game-based. (While it’s true that a video game was developed based on the Brad Pitt zombie epic World War Z, the game features a whole new cast of characters.)
Advantage: Vikander

I’m forced to call this one for Vikander, though we’ll have to wait until Friday, when the rebooted Tomb Raider hits theaters, to see how things really shake out.