What You Need To Know:

• Uncharted was released on February 18, 2022 in the United States exclusively in movie theaters.

• The film stars Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, and Antonio Banderas.

• The film is a video game adaptation of the series of the same name first published by Naughty Dog in 2007.

• Uncharted is an action film with treasure hunting similar to Indiana Jones.

• Uncharted is rated PG-13 for Violence/Action and Language

Hot take: Tom Holland is not the next Tom Cruise. Now, what might someone mean when they say that? It means that Tom Holland is not the next A-list star and bankable action movie hero that the studios are hoping for, at least, in this reviewer's opinion. Uncharted is another video game adaptation that is aiming to create a franchise off the back of an established media title, but one can simply play the highly regarded video games to experience something cinematic in its foundation while obtaining something interactive at the same time. With the help of other A-list Hollywood talent and a generous budget courtesy of Sony Pictures, will this motion picture at the very least be a competent popcorn action movie that does the games justice?

Before going into the film proper, I would like to explain my feelings towards these games so I can communicate how much of a fan I am of them. The games started as a series on the PlayStation 3 in 2007, but I didn’t get started with the series until 2009 with the release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I remember seeing a kiosk demo of the game at Fry’s Electronics and falling in love with the train set piece almost immediately. Flash forward to the present, and I have played every entry in the series including the black sheep PS Vita handheld title (Side note: Uncharted: Golden Abyss is an underrated experience and deserves a second look by series fans and PS Vita enthusiasts). My favorite game in the series is Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and it just so happens that this film takes a majority of its inspiration from that title. It is safe to say that I have a familiarity with the series and the characterization of Nathan Drake, Sully, Chloe, and Sam Drake, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how I view that adaptation into another non-interactive medium.

As mentioned previously, this film takes its story inspiration mainly from the fourth game in the series, along with bits and pieces of the others. (Mainly the third game for the cargo plane sequence, and the treasure they’re looking for is most like the treasure from the first game). While the story of the video games has always been a loose thread to connect exciting gameplay sections, less so in four, but still prevalent nonetheless, this film’s story feels similar to that loose thread but without the exciting gameplay. It seems that every modern treasure hunting film has taken inspiration from Indiana Jones, and this is no different. However, Indiana Jones has memorable characters, wonderfully crafted set pieces with practical effects, a fantastic musical score, and a charismatic lead performance. This film, along with the aforementioned story, doesn’t contain any flair or the well-crafted character relationships that the games are known for, along with not having the basics for an adventure film in the same fashion as Indiana Jones. 

It’s a shame that this mediocre and generic story is accompanied by many well-known and accomplished actors. Tom Holland, who I feel is miscast as Nathan Drake, still does a decent enough job with what he is given. He doesn't exude charisma and the cockiness of his video game counterpart, but he does a passable job as a generic leading man. Mark Wahlberg injects a lot of personality into the main cast as he usually does. Wahlberg’s casting as Nathan’s business partner Victor Sullivan is interesting and wouldn't seem to work on paper, however, he ends up giving the most inspired performance in the film. Antonio Banderas has always had an excellent and engaging screen presence, but he is wasted as the film’s villain. He isn’t given any substantial development throughout the film, and his entire character felt pointless to the narrative. His character’s functionality was to get the plot moving from location to location and nothing more. Sophia Ali as Chloe is the most accurate casting when it comes to the look of the character in the games, and she does a good job portraying her as well. Ali and Wahlberg are the standouts of the film, and their character dynamic was fun to watch, and I wish that the film would have focused more on them than the title character. The character writing may be flawed, but it is better than the action set pieces. 

What was the last action film that was truly something special? With stunts that captured your imagination and action sequences that kept your eyes glued to the screen? John Wick is a great example of modern action films with excellent fight choreography and fantastic editing that lets the action be seen by the audience. Mad Max: Fury Road is my favorite action film of the 2010s. George Miller has an excellent eye for action, unlike many of the much younger filmmakers working today. It’s hard to look away when watching that film. Uncharted wishes it had the qualities of the two films that I mentioned above. All of the action in this film isn’t convincing. Fake stunts, fake-looking computer effects, and fake-looking green screen locations. There is nothing worse than immersion-breaking scenes that have no semblance of real reality. These films made amid the pandemic have had to rely on digitally created sets and environments for obvious reasons, but that still doesn’t excuse them from not being convincing. Uncharted is based on a video game, yes, but when translating something to another medium, someone has to look at the benefits and limitations of each. Video games can get away with more cartoonish antics because they’re not trying to be “real”. The audience that plays video games knows that video games are completely digitally crafted creations, so the expectations for something looking realistic are relative in terms of the graphical fidelity of the said game. Computer-generated images of people falling through the sky at 100+ miles per hour won’t look convincing unless the crew forgoes computers and do a real skydiving stunt. I suppose that a larger budget would have helped mitigate the softness of the CGI, but this is a problem with the genre as a whole right now and not exclusive to this film. Comic book films have all but eliminated the practicality of the genre due to their success. It’s unfortunate, but when something that has proven to make money and when the special effect requires less time to create due to no practical filmmaking, it will be used instead almost every time unless the director says otherwise. 

Uncharted, while on its own is just a generic action treasure hunt adventure, represents a problem that has been plaguing the genre and Hollywood for a while. This film was made because of the brand recognition of a better product with many of the lazy filmmaking conventions that make action films less interesting to watch. The script itself was generic, but a good action director would have elevated the material immensely. Or, at least, would have made it more entertaining to watch. Sony is probably planning a franchise with Tom Holland at the helm if this film is successful. Sony has many video game properties that would make for interesting films (they also distribute the Resident Evil films, and the most recent installment had many of the same problems as this film) but I think they need to reevaluate their approach and try to go for a good first movie, instead of trying franchise filmmaking that’s also been killing Hollywood since the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you’re a fan of the games like myself, I think that you should check it out and see if you like it for yourself. If you’re a general audience member, skip it. You aren’t missing out on anything that rewatching Indiana Jones couldn’t give you.