It’s flashy, fast-paced and enjoyable; however, this could’ve been more.
It’s easy to doubt the validity of a video game film adaptation due to its questionable past. However, Uncharted is decent. It’s not perfect, but it’s an enjoyable time at the cinema featuring Tom Holland.
The Spider-Man: No Way Home actor stars as Nathan Drake, the treasure hunter with a heart of gold, who leads the PlayStation video game series on which the movie is based. Produced by Ruben Fleischer (of Zombieland fame), this film is, on its own, a story of origin for our dear friend Nate.
Instead of drawing inspiration from particular games, Uncharted takes inspiration from the same series in the spirit of Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones. The character of Holland Nate is a bartender and easy-going history buff who earns his living, making customers pay for their valuables. We are told early on that the reason for Nate’s habit of criminal mischief is his absent brother Sam who, after being kicked out of the boarding school Drake and the other boys attended -was a fugitive to the world.
It’s only a short time before Nate reunites with Victor Sullivan, aka Sully. Mark Wahlberg may not be the most popular character on the screen. However, he’s to be a credible grifter who comes looking like he’s trying to play an angle. Nate even confronts him in one scene, telling him, “Stop figuring out the lie you’re about to tell and just give me the truth!”
Sully is working for Nate, a huge-money job that he cannot complete by himself. Both are strangers. However, Sully has a history with Nate’s brother. And the project he’s working on — which Sam was supposed to assist with before his disappearance is just one step towards a greater reward: a lost gold hoard once belonging to the 16th-century Portuguese explorationist Ferdinand Magellan and his ship crew.
There’s nothing new or unique about the story unfolding in Uncharted. It’s easy to see the double-crosses happening, whether telegraphed or just as something you’ve gotten inside your head because that’s how movies like this function. A variety of thrilling action scenes are mingled with all that. They are a great watch, even if you already know where they’ll go at the final.
A section of the catacombs underneath Venice is similar to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. A different sequence is closer to the physics-destroying chase scenes in the Fast and Furious movie. There’s also the cargo plane scene we’ve seen in trailers. It’s so powerful that Uncharted doubles down by using a tiny portion of it as the film’s first scene before opening up in the proper background in the future.
There are flashes of a film that differentiate itself from the vast majority of blockbuster action. Nate’s borderline-superhuman agility and knack for free climbing — which are significant elements in the game series — is a slickly shot highlight of every set piece, with Holland’s Spidey stunt training no doubt coming in handy as he stylishly leaps, slides, and engages in fisticuffs.
Holland is the best part of Uncharted. His action-hero sequences are more of a homage towards Jackie Chan’s classic slapstick stunts as opposed to Marvel’s high-flying wall-crawler are only a tiny part of the overall story. Nate is a fan of a good joke, just like any other Peter Parker version. However, he’s an adult who’s Been Through Stuff and is acting as if he has. He’s out of his element with the veteran Sully. However, he’s far from being the standard high school kid he’s played in Marvel films.
In terms of Wahlberg, the actor, he’s like… here. The video game character he plays is a snobby con man who is definitely in love with Nate. However, he indeed loves himself and his gain even more. He’s bludgeoned his apparent friend several times and yet somehow comes through at the final. We don’t particularly like or trust him as we observe his charming characteristics.
About half of it is the case for Wahlberg’s version. In the film, Sully is a ruthless con man and serial liar, and he’s pretty open regarding it in a rude manner. He’s not a person to be loved. Perhaps that’s because Uncharted will reveal the story of his romance with Nate However, it’s not only that. In addition, Wahlberg’s character needs to be more in personality. Sully appears as a solitary character who never transcends the character’s template, which Wahlberg seems to have copied or copied from his character in The Other Guys. Will Ferrell’s comedy, The Other Guys.
The more we get deeper into their characters, the lighter their characterisations become. The three antagonists, Santiago Moncada, Braddock, and Chloe Frazer, are just different antagonists to Nate. Moncada (Antonio Banderas) is the mastermind but from reach and full of plots. Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) is the primary source of instantaneous tension when she and her flunkies search for and constantly fight with Nate. Also, Frazer (Sophia Ali) is like the femme fatale — not as deadly if you look at the design. Like Sully is mainly driven by the desire for financial self-enrichment. But she’s also the most disappointing.
Uncharted is an excellent but flawed start to what Sony is sure to hope to be a brand’s next blockbuster movie franchise. However, the game franchise it is based on is far more than Nate, Sully, and the set pieces. Frazer is an integral part of the “so much more” as a recurring character and a regular part of Nate’s world. (She even appeared in her own excellent sequel game.) Uncharted is a perfect way to set up several of those pieces. Like everyone else who isn’t Nathan Drake, we never have long enough with the character to make more than a mere impression.
This is a poor choice on the part of the producers. The Uncharted games eschew the majority of opportunities to promote the toxic masculinity of men. Yet, it’s a show run by a white man and his white male partner in the world of historical crimes. As the game’s creator Naughty Dog has grown through the years, that balance has changed to allow women and those of different races more significant roles. It’s a bit puzzling that the Uncharted film coming out in 2022 could make everyone feel cheated in the wake of its leading white actor.
Uncharted Review – The HeyUGuys Film Review Show
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