Review: Uncharted

Despite the all-star cast, the film adaptation of Naughty Dog's successful video game franchise ultimately falls flat.

Review: Uncharted

After being stuck in development hell for several years, the newest video game adaptation of Uncharted has finally arrived. An action/adventure popcorn flick featuring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg hit UK cinemas earlier this month, and the finished product is rather underwhelming.  

The video game series of the same name became one of the most beloved franchises of all time because of its grand sense of adventure, the rich characters, the captivating stories, and epic action sequences. Unfortunately, the feature film adaptation – which combines story elements from all four of the games and invents some new plot elements altogether – falls flat in every one of those departments. 

Uncharted is merely adequate at the best of times, and the sense of adventure that should come with it is mild at best. This is due to the run-of-the-mill story that merges parts of the video games' story with pretty much every adventure movie cliché you could think of. A character is built up as the villain is later killed off and replaced by a mysterious woman who has a history with Sully (Mark Wahlberg). It's somewhat intriguing, to begin with, but the history between the two characters is never remotely expanded upon. In fact, the character development of the mysterious woman comes to a screeching halt, from then on being nothing more than an obstacle for the protagonists to overcome, making for a rather uninspired third act.

Many of the worries expressed by many prior to the film's release about the casting are mostly validated, as Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, instead of playing Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan, are essentially playing themselves. The latter is the most egregious of the two, as Wahlberg does not remotely look, sound, or act as Sully does, whilst the chemistry between the pair is, again, merely adequate. They bounce off each other just enough to make you smile now and then, but much like the rest of the film, it always feels like something is missing. 

The set pieces were somewhat surprising. The climax is as fun and far fetched as it should be, with two ancient pirate ships being airlifted out of a cave by helicopters. At the same time, the protagonists fight on them and try to stay alive, but because of the mediocrity of every other aspect of the film, the action never has any weight. It all feels rather distant like you're watching a bunch of actors jump around in front of a green screen. It never manages to transport you the way it should. 

It's hardly surprising for a video game movie that was stuck in production hell for over a decade to feel as though it lacks an identity. Uncharted doesn't know what it wants to be. It tries to have action, adventure, comedy, plot twists, and an emotional core while setting up sequels, and it falls flat in every department. In trying to do everything at once, it fails to succeed at any. I highly doubt I'll ever think about this film again, let alone rewatch it.  

Header Image Credit: Gage Skidmore

Author

Callum Holt

Callum Holt Kickstart

Callum is a film studies student with an enormous passion for cinema. When he isn't watching or writing about movies, he enjoys playing chess, catching up with the latest headlines, and reading.

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