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Uncharted

Tyler Harlow

Starring: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, Stephen Waddington


Director: Ruben Fleischer


Based on the "Uncharted" video game series developed by Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment.


Nathan Drake (Holland) is a small time criminal who steals jewelry and cash from the unsuspecting rich patrons of the bar where he works. He is soon roped into a globe trotting adventure by Victor 'Sully" Sullivan (Wahlberg) to help him find Magellan's lost gold and potentially reconnect with his brother who ran away 15 years ago. Standing in Drake and Sully's way is Santiago Moncada (Banderas), whose family funded Magellan's cross world journey and lost the gold back in the 1500s. Helping Moncada track the gold is the ruthless Braddock (Gabrielle) and together she and Moncada will stop at nothing until the fortune has been found. Along with the resourceful Chloe Frazer (Ali), Drake and Sully set off on a journey that will forever change their lives.


Video game films often have a rough translation to the big screen, with only a handful being successful- Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider, Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog are recent attempts that come to mind (Yes I am willing to die on the Assassin's Creed hill). Uncharted has had a particularly long road, with the first attempt to bring the games to the big screen beginning around 13 years ago. That version, which had David O. Russell attached to direct and Robert DeNiro and Mark Wahlberg to star. Since then, a revolving door of directors have attempted to finally bring the project into fruition with Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom) being the one to finally get the film in the can.


I will confess this up front, I have not played the games but from what I understand they are incredibly cinematic. Unfortunately for everyone involved, this doesn't translate at all into the film adaptation. It comes close in its admittedly fun climactic set piece, which features dueling ships being carried through the air by helicopters. This is too late to salvage all that comes before it, which is a mix of National Treasure, Indiana Jones, and Tomb Raider. It should have been a lot more fun than it was.


What ultimately keeps the film from being fun is the characters, who we aren't really given an opportunity to care about or see grow. From what I understand, a major change from the games is that this is an origin story. That is fine, but we aren't given enough reason to care. Tom Holland is likable like always in the lead but his defining character trait is that he is too trusting, with Sully's defining character trait being that he wants the gold and you can't trust him. He is at least given a small arc but it is unearned. A far more interesting character is Chloe, played by Sophia Ali, but we never dive into her backstory at all. This could have gone a long way to show why she was part of the team other than she knows Sully. Antonio Banderas is fine as the villain, who is part of an admittedly clever plot reversal to open the third act, but really could have been more menacing than he was. I also wonder what this film would have been like with Nathan Fillion in the lead role, who was actively campaigning for it and had near unanimous support from fans of the games.


Maybe this will all be explored in future films but for now, Nathan Drake's cinematic universe is off to a rocky start.


Grade: C-






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