For over a decade, a movie based on the “Uncharted” games was in development hell, with the production being as old as the first game. It has gone through multiple directors, writers, and production delays. Finally, “Uncharted” is out.
While video game movies don’t have the best track record, there have been notable exceptions recently with “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu” in 2019 and “Sonic the Hedgehog” in 2020. Not to mention television adaptations like “Castlevania” (2017), “The Witcher” (2018), and “Arcane” (2021).
The movie is about a young man named Nathan Drake who goes on a globe-trotting adventure with Victor Sullivan to find the lost treasure of the Infamous 18 from Magellan’s expedition. In order to find the treasure, they need a religious cross.
If you’ve played the games, you’re going to like the reference to the games, such as the opening sequence, which is straight out of “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” which is also from “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.”
No matter if you have played the games or not, you’re still going to come out of this movie thinking that “Uncharted” was not bad, but was a very fun adventure movie.
Despite the controversial casting of Tom Holland playing Nathan Drake, he surprisingly pulls it off as his own. Nathan Drake has charm and charisma, while Tom Holland is known for having a boyish quality.
Nathan is not a typical teenager in this movie, he’s more like a man because as a bartender in New York City. It bothered me that his New York accent kind of disappeared in some scenes. However, Tom Holland nails it as Nathan Drake. He makes witty remarks like Nathan, he can parkour, fight, and knows how to solve puzzles at historical sites. His role as Nathan Drake proves that Tom is a movie star that will be remembered and will be seen for years to come.
Mark Wahlberg however, didn’t really do it for me as Sully. For one thing, he didn’t have a mustache like in the games until the end of the movie and Sully was basically the same tough-guy character that Marky Mark has been playing for over a decade.
That being said, both Tom and Mark had great chemistry as Nathan and Sully. They both captured the same chemistry they had in the games pretty well.
Antonio Banderas played the main antagonist, Santiago Moncada, who wants the cross because it’s his “birthright.” There’s also a secondary antagonist named Jo Braddock, who was a lady with a knife. That’s literally all I can say because she was that lame.
Chloe Frazier, a supporting character, is one of Nathan’s closest allies from the games. Chloe was introduced in “Uncharted 2” as Nathan’s former flame and potential ally in finding the Cintamani Stone and the Tomb of Shambhala. Chloe became so popular that she got her own game in the expansion title of “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.”
Sophie Taylor Ali was great but she could’ve had more screen time. There were moments where she was there just because Chloe is part of the games and the filmmakers thought that they should put her there to add another character with zero depth to the plot.
In a future sequel, I do hope that Chloe gets her chance to shine and who knows? Maybe she’ll get a spin-off series in the future.
I also loved Rudy Pankow’s appearance as Sam Drake, all because I love him in “Outer Banks.” If you guys don’t know, he plays JJ. Even though Rudy only had limited screen time, he was just really good at playing this role and I’m excited to see more of him.
Despite its flaws, “Uncharted” is a very fun action-adventure movie with plenty of humor, an admittedly good twist and very cool action sequences.
Uncharted is now playing in theaters.