After years of developmental hell, six director changes, castings and re-castings, and numerous COVID-19 related delays, we finally have a film based on the Uncharted game series out. Helming the project is Ruben Fleischer, with a script by Rafe Lee Judkins, Jon Hanley Rosenberg, and Mark D. Walker. In the film, we follow a young bartender and part-time pickpocket, Nathan “Nate” Drake (Tom Holland), who is recruited by Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) to help locate the legendary lost treasure of Magellan. Unfortunate for them, Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), an aristocrat with roots tied to the treasure, is putting out his own squad to find the treasure by any means necessary.
I have played the games, in fact I have played all of them, some multiple times; I’ve greatly enjoyed them. And I’ve always been skeptical on the idea of adapting the games to the big screen because the whole appeal is that you’re taking part in an globetrotting Indiana Jones-esque adventure. Also, the pleasure of the games is that they’re allowed to create these large scale, over-the-top action set-pieces that would be near impossible to pull off in live-action without resorting to pure CG imagery, so it wouldn’t be that far off from a cut-scene from the game, except there’s no place where you come in to control anything. And if they do tone the ridiculousness down, then all you have is a generic Indiana Jones riff.
That makes it all the more frustrating with a film like Uncharted because while it did more or less validate my concerns, it also has moments where it kinda nails the vibe of the games. Obviously, I am speaking as someone who does really enjoy those games, so if you’ll indulge me for a moment. First off, the casting doesn’t totally work. At no point did I ever really buy Holland and Wahlberg as Nate and Sully, their dynamic is way off, and while Holland may be 25 years old and fully ripped, he’s still cursed with a baby face and a voice that makes him sound like the Squeaky-Voiced Teen from The Simpsons every time he yells. It really feels like he was cast not because he was right for the role, but because he’s hot right now, and Sony wants him to stay in house.
As a whole, the humor and overall feeling doesn’t fully capture what I like most about the games. I enjoyed the banter, the personalities clashing, and it’s not like the film doesn’t try, it’s just that most of the humor doesn’t really land, it lacks the specificity that the games have established over time, it feels like reheated Marvel “well that happened” style humor, and Holland often repeats the same shtick that he does as Peter, and Wahlberg is doing his usual routine, both of which can be charming under the right circumstances, and there are moments here where it works, but it just never felt right for the film as a whole, especially having been aware of the games and their writing style.
The action is serviceable, if sometimes a bit choppy. There is a weird lack of gun play, but I guess it would be odd seeing Holland casually gunning down thousands of henchmen while making wisecracks. The film relies mostly on hand-to-hand stuff, often incorporating elements of the environment, one moment even seems like a direct homage to Jackie Chan’s Police Story. It gets the job done, but there’s nothing particularly memorable about these encounters with Moncada’s goons, though Tati Gabrielle does make a very strong impression as Jo, a mercenary hired by Moncada.
The only sequence that feels like it was ripped right out of the game (not including the plane bit which we’ve seen in the trailers and is literally ripped from the third game) is the climax, which involves two ships being carried by helicopters while fights are happening on them. It’s just big enough to make an impression, and since it does a decent enough mix of sets, green screen, and pure CG, it remains a compelling set-piece that really pushes the film to its peak.
Now, if you’re someone who hasn’t played the games, aren’t familiar with them, or any of the characters, you might actually have a pretty good time here. I won’t say it’s a film you’ll be going back to over and over, but as a piece of entertaining fluff, it gets the job done. Miscasting aside, for how the material is written, Holland and Wahlberg do play off each other well. The film is too competently put together to say its anything below mediocre. There is some fun to be had if you aren’t aware of the changes or are willing to put them aside. Honestly, I would have forgiven a lot had they actually played the games’ theme music in its full glory instead of playing soft and slow versions in a low volume, and then uncharacteristically generic music from Ramin Djawadi for the rest of the film What a missed opportunity.
Uncharted is many things, but it isn’t boring. I do have a soft spot for adventure films like this, I like seeing characters work to solve puzzles, and maneuver through impossibly ancient mechanical contraptions, I dig all that stuff, it’s part of why the games were so much fun. There were parts where I did have fun, but I just wish the film also captured how compelling the characters can be if you just took what was already there, and put them on screen without any changes. There were things that worked, I enjoyed the finale, Sophia Ali is a great Chloe Frazer, cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung knows how to create some slick imagery, and Gabrielle fully understood the assignment as the main heavy. But do these solid qualities overcome my frustrations with the film’s shortcomings as an adaptation? Probably not, as the mid-credits scene didn’t do a whole lot to get me excited for a potential sequel. It’s so odd. You’d think a game from a developer often criticized for being so narrative heavy, borderline movie-like, that you’d think they’d basically have material for Hollywood on a silver platter, and yet, we still got this. That’s too bad, I was hoping this would surprise me.
Uncharted is now out in theaters.