Aside from the constant lockdowns and the consistent delays, Uncharted was one that experienced production hell even before filming commenced. There have also been many directors that abandoned the project, names such as David O. Russell, Seth Gordon, Shawn Levy, Dan Trachtenberg, Travis Knight until finally Ruben Fleischer got the gig. Before Tom Holland was cast, Mark Wahlberg was attached to star as Nathan Drake, but then that fell off the chart but Wahlberg still ended up being attached to the project. The original release date for Uncharted goes back all the way June 10, 2016 but had to endure several more pushes until a release date for February 18, 2022. The biggest problem, however, that Uncharted had to face is to break the curse of video game movies. Let’s be honest, they haven’t had the success that the MCU has had or any other successful and lucrative franchise that exists. Even the ones that might have some redeeming qualities (whether it’s Warcraft, the most recent Mortal Kombat or Tomb Raider movie with Alicia Vikander), but the genre itself has yet to strike a nerve with the mainstream audience. The problem that video game movies have is either they focus way too much on the lore of the video game and create something that only die hard fans will adapt to. The second thing they might do is they make it too much like the video game itself, which isn’t the job of any adaptation.
Video games being made into movies might a bit trickier to adapt than a book or a comic-book because there’s a variety of things you could pull from a game to create one singular story, but for some reason video game movies just can’t strike the landing. However, there has been one video game franchise that’s almost ripe for the big screen and that’s the Uncharted games. Whether it’s the gameplay, the character of Nathan Drake or even the music, all four of the Uncharted games scream for big-screen adventure with spectacle and fun. Each game progressively became more cinematic to the point where it ponders why Uncharted hasn’t been made into a movie. Obviously, fans wanted Nathan Drake to be played by Nathan Fillion not just because he fit the look but eh captured the gestures and motifs of the character, and while the little fan film he did a few years back was great, Fillion was getting too old. Tom Holland was then cast as a younger Nathan Drake, in the hopes of telling an “origin story” of the character and the potential to keep him on board for multiple films.
With all the delays, directors coming on board and dropping out and even the casting of Tom Holland, Uncharted finally made it’s footprint in theaters (exclusively) and surprisingly made a good impression for the video game movie genre. UnchartedĀ is a swashbuckling blast. Itās full of grand set pieces, intense and vibrant action, fine performances and an infusion of life to a dead genre. Tom Holland really shines as the charismatic and witty Nathan Drake and the counter part to him, in Mark Wahlberg, is a solid pair.Ā The overall movie isn’t flawless, but it steers this genre into much needed good will thanks to Tom Holland.
Based on the popular video game franchise but giving its own spin to it, Uncharted sees a younger Nathan Drake being recruited by seasoned treasure hunter, Victor “Sully” Sullivan on a quest to recover a great fortune by Ferdinand Magellan, and lost 500 years ago by the House of Moncada.
Uncharted has issues, but the positives in this movie completely outweigh it from being a complete dumpster fire. First things first, Tom Holland was absolutely terrific. It might be unusual for diehard fans of the source material to get on board with Holland as Nathan Drake, but Holland embellishes the character very handsomely in a different kind of direction. He’s quippy, clever and hone it comes to the physicality of Nathan Drake, he does that spectacularly. Now some might be indifferent with Mark Wahlberg as the character of Sully, but the interaction him and Tom Holland have was a delight and really elevated the character moments of this movie.
A movie like Uncharted is expected to have neat visuals, set pieces and solid action and rest assured that this movie does feature that in spades. They certainly aren’t the most innovative action sequences, but it manages to capture what the games did so well and that’s the great cinematic angle a story like this can provide. The action is fun, exciting and very intense and it also captures the spirit of the video games in ways where most video game movies don’t. Ruben Fleischer is more than likely a hit or miss director, but has proven to be a competent storyteller and action director. His attention to detail on the set pieces and the sense of adventure that’s bestowed in this story is solid. The other terrific aspect of this movie is the score composed by Ramin Djawadi. Greg Edmonson’s music from the first three Uncharted games are wonderfully composed scores, but it was really Henry Jackman’s music in Uncharted: A Thief’s End that really catapulted it to a whole other level. Ramin Djawadi’s music feels like an amalgamation of the video game music from the two different composers, and yet still feels like a brand new original adventure score for the modern age.
Addressing the issues in Uncharted won’t be something to shy away from because it does feature some prominent issues. The real big problem this Uncharted movies has is how much this movie, at times, feels like an Uncharted video game and how it also departures itself from the original source material. It felt a little all over the place in that regard because it was borrowing elements from National Treasure, Indiana Jones and even shades of Tomb Raider. In some aspects it pulls of those elements nicely, but sometimes it felt a little bit too much to adjust to what kind of movie it was going for. For the entire two hour runtime, the majority of this movie is coherent enough but for some reason it tried to pull from other franchises instead of it’s source material in some cases. The second issue Uncharted has was Antonio Banderas, who ultimately feels like a waste as the filmās villain. He never felt one step ahead with our main characters nor did feel all that compelling of a character. He’s fine for what it’s worth, but as a villain, he was weak.
All in all, Uncharted is tons of fun. Itās not super innovative with the filmmaking, but itās slick and cool and itās just a nice to see a movie like this on the big screen.
My grade for Uncharted: B-
Zane's take at the Cinema's 