Based on a fan-made video featuring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, Deepfake technology looks like it will just keep getting more and more believable with each passing day. Every time a new video comes out, it feels as though everything behind it has advanced several years since the last. Moral and legal issues aside, it's always pretty darn fun to watch, especially when a master flaunts their expertise.
On that note, the deepfake genius known only as Shamook has released yet another banger of a video, this time based focusing on Tomb Raider. Shamook seemingly hasn't slowed down at all since they were hired by Lucasfilm earlier this year, so it looks like the viewing public gets to reap the benefits of having them both as a force behind upcoming Star Wars projects as well as a YouTuber still cranking out insane technical marvels like they're nothing.
This latest offering shows off a swap that surprisingly hasn't been done quite as often as some might expect. Using the same sophisticated deepfake process, Shamook swapped Jolie's face into footage from 2018's Tomb Raider film starring Alicia Vikander. As with most of their videos, the switch appears almost flawless, which offers a fascinating glimpse into a world where Jolie continued playing the character of Lara Croft after her own duology of Tomb Raider films back in the early 2000s.
What's immediately noticeable is how Jolie's trademark intense eyes and smirk actually appear to change the character's tone a tiny bit. While Vikander held a rather stoic (yet not exactly stone-faced) expression for much of her performance, Jolie's face gives her a little twist of clever fiendishness that suggests some hidden knowledge to the audience. As pretentious as that last sentence was, it's hard to deny how interesting it would be to see her in the full movie rather than a few scattered scenes.
Granted, interested viewers can see Jolie in character again as Croft any time they want, thanks to the 2 previously mentioned movies she headlined in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life didn't exactly wow critics, but given the consensus about Jolie's praiseworthy performance, she's at least worth the price of admission.
That's not to say the 2018 Tomb Raider is any less worth seeing, as it earned even higher praise from critics and audiences alike, with Vikander's performance standing high as arguably its only universally praised aspect. Not bad for a video game adaptation. But reviews aside, it's always fascinating to see deepfake videos like this. If nothing else, it helps find a common ground for people who can't decide between Jolie or Vikander.
Tomb Raider is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Shamook/YouTube