Uncharted Movie Review

Uncharted (2022)

Watch the trailer
Written by: Rafe Judkins and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (screenplay by), Rafe Judkins and Jon Hanley Rosenberg & Mark D. Walker (screen story by)
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle
Rated: PG-13

Plot
Street-smart Nathan Drake is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter, "Sully" Sullivan, to recover a fortune amassed and lost 500 years ago by Ferdinand Magellan.

Verdict
Not a bad video game adaptation, though it certainly takes many liberties. This provides globe trotting treasure hunting and over the top action. While it provides a number of different characters, they're all quite shallow. This is a popcorn movie, and it doesn't have much depth past that.
The video game's story is much better, but this just uses the characters and their occupation.
It depends.

Review
I remember talks of a movie not long after the first game came out in 2007. At the time Nathan Fillion was the popular choice for the lead. Even with this movie, Wahlberg seems more suited for Nathan Drake of the video games than Holland. Past casting, video game adaptations don't always fare well. It's not easy to change mediums.

This opens with the "how we got here" trope, starting mid-scene  during the height of the action much later in the movie. We'll see this scene again later. Opening any movie like this is an indication the movie doesn't trust it's own opening or audience, opting for a big action scene to garner attention.

Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland play Sully Sullivan and Nathan Drake

The real opening sets up the dynamic between Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) and his brother which also developing the character just enough. They're 'liberating' treasure.

In the present day Sully (Mark Wahlberg) recruits Drake for a treasure hunt. This starts the globe trotting adventure for Ferdinand Magellan's lost treasure. In reality there's nothing to support the existence of such treasure. While it seems Sully has at first picked Drake out of obscurity, that's not true. Sully and Drake aren't the only ones seeking the treasure. The Moncada family bankrolled Magellan back when on the agreement they would get the treasure. Despite being insanely rich, Sebastian (Antonio Banderas) still wants to avenge the slight. Banderas does a great job in a limited role, but the movie goes over the top to make him a psychopath for no good reason other than this is the villain and he needs to be a really bad dude.

Drake, Sully, and Chloe (Sophia Ali) explore Barcelona to find the treasure. The band of three provides a nice dynamic. I'm dubious that Barcelona has all of these undiscovered tunnels underneath, and more dubious still that a five hundred year old tunnel leads to a dance club.

Tom Holland and Antonia Banderas play Nathan Drake and Moncada

Indiana Jones is the benchmark for all treasure hunter movies. A big part of that franchise is how it stays grounded. It also does a great job of developing Indiana. In this movie Drake is little more than the wisecracking, typical action hero.

There's plenty of double crossing to keep things interesting which also provides redemption arcs for characters. Uncharted is fun, but borders on silly with some of the big set pieces. The whole sequence towards the end defies belief. The movie really cranks it up, and it's difficult to suspend you disbelief. Props are extremely durable or fragile based only on what the scene requires. If you've been able to suspend your disbelief thus far, it's on shaky ground now. I don't believe that five hundred year old artifacts could endure any amount of damage, much less what we see.

This movie has some fun with the plot and with banter, but it would have been better served to have Sully and Drake as already friends. The chemistry with Drake and Sully was almost there, but not quite. With Holland as your lead, you really have to start this out early in his treasure hunting career.
This movie didn't need a stinger. The movie already feels like it desperately wants to start a franchise. Why belabor the point?

This was better than I expected, but I wish it were more grounded. Movies often use budget to make up for shortcoming and this is no exception. Big set pieces look cool, but this movie doesn't drive tension. While it's rated PG-13 it certainly pushes the limit. It's implied a character gets their throat cut, then we later see the body, there's just a lack of blood. There's also a lot of language for a PG-13 movie. Again, I think this is a decision based on money. A PG-13 rating broadens the audience.