Uncharted

I'm being really generous with 6 stars, because this movie is neither really funny, nor really exciting.

Not any good? The CGI effects are pretty special, but personally I often get bored when the CGI effects are the only thing keeping a movie afloat. And there are basically only 2 CGI spectacle scenes that are noteworthy and even those I found somewhat overkill and boring.

Let's forget about the story. This is merely another adventure movie, like the Pirates of the Carribean meets National Treasure. It'll do if there is nothing else to watch, but dont expect any originality, dont expect many laughs and dont expect much thrillling action either...

Started off interesting, a poor man's national treasure or at a stretch, indiana jones, but too many scenes were just ridiculous as to become annoying.

Got worse as the film progressed, just impossible scenarios that left me realising this is a kids film. Young kids.

The Uncharted video game franchise is my favourite series of games ever made. I thought I should get that out of the way before diving into my review. Upon the countless storylines I'm sure they went over and numerous directors leaving the project before settling on Ruben Fleischer, I was worried, but still very excited to see these characters on the big screen. This will also be a completely unbiased review because I can't even compare it to the games. Too many things have been changed to really compare it. With all of that said, let's dive in.

The story begins with young Nathan Drake, a bartender who had one day planned on finding treasure with his brother Sam. After the disappearance of his brother, he never felt the need to get back into the game. When Victor Sullivan (Sully) appears after his shift one night, he brings up the past, saying that he worked with his brother Sam. This instantly makes Nathan want to be a part of this story and the two of them form a bond. These two believe that a fortune left behind by Ferdinand Magellan over 500 years ago is still sitting somewhere in the world. They take this journey together, but they're not the only ones after this treasure, which leads to a lot of predictability as well.

When I first heard that Tom Holland was cast to play Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg would be playing Sully, I, like many other fans, was left scratching my head. It was clear that they wanted to start these characters younger than they were in the game in order to build a long-running franchise, but it just didn't seem right. Again, I'm wasn't about to let my love of the games sway me in any direction though. I'm a huge fan of both Holland and Wahlberg, so here's the catch-22 happening in my head. Did I enjoy this movie overall and did I enjoy these two in their respective roles? I absolutely did! Do I still feel that it was a little miscast and that they should've been older? I absolutely do! For both of those reasons and for a few negatives I'm about to get into, I believe Uncharted is an okay, entertaining movie for the most part.

Ruben Fleischer has been a very hit-or-miss director for me, directing both Zombieland films, which I think are great, as well as Venom, which I had some fun with, but he has also done some pretty bad films in Gangster Squad and 30 Minutes or Less. His films always have a very clean look to them and a silly/fun tone. I was worried that tone wouldn't fit an Uncharted movie and I do feel that way after having seen the film as well. Bright and colourful (other than landscapes around them) is not how I ever saw an Uncharted movie looking, but again, it was adapted and I'm not going to complain about the look. What I feel is the weakest aspect of this film is the fact that there's absolutely no grit. Nobody is ever dirty, there's barely any blood, and it never feels like stakes are high because these characters can go through a lot without a scratch.

Overall, I probably have more to critique than praise when talking about Uncharted, but that's just because the Screenplay felt like it was hitting random bullet points instead of fleshing out the world they're living in. It never felt lived-in. Still, I love the cast (including Antonio Banderas and Sophia Ali as well), the banter between Nathan and Sully was fun, the action is cool, and I left the theatre feeling positive enough about the film that I would love to see them continue. I will gladly go back for a sequel, but I just hope they evolve these characters more and get down to a grittier, dirtier story. Yes, the point of Uncharted is to have fun and tell a great story, but I felt the story was a little hollow here. I think it's a movie worth seeing and I recommend it because I think there is potential for so much better in the future. This film is just okay overall, but the groundwork has now been laid for something even better.

Ideal for fans of Tom Holland and devil-may-care treasure hunts, "Uncharted" is a solid action movie with crazy stunts, beautiful locations and surprising star power. It's a good reason to leave the house for that big-screen spectacle that we all live for. If you've never owned a Playstation, that's really all you need to have a good time.

. . .

But sweet merciful Jesus, this is not an Uncharted movie and that is a torpedo that sinks the whole thing. Because to have that, you need Drake and Sully, and both Holland and Mark Wahlberg are way off; they're not even close. They don't look like these characters and they don't sound like them, despite the mid-credits afterthought of a scene that's supposed to satisfy this requirement.

And as a result, I have to admit, I was bored to tears. To the movie's credit, it picks up considerably in the third act, and even goes nuts in the set piece department (that airlift scene was pretty cool). But to make us wait ninety-odd minutes for Drake to even pick up a gun is ridiculous.

I admit personal bias in the strongest sense; this series of games makes my desert-island list, no question, and I wanted to be surprised by this. It just didn't happen, and I couldn't make these actors fit these characters. As it stands, that Nathan Fillion fan film from a few years back (I'm serious, go watch it) still reigns supreme. I try to be a movie-goer that steers clear of fanboyism, but it didn't work here. And it was not fun.

Uncharted had a feel that it was based on something else, but I was thinking like a book or something. I'm guessing sense Playstation produced this than that means it actually based on a game.

Can't tell you if it's true to the material, all I can tell you is that I liked it.

It's an action-adventure flick that's fun and exciting.

Tom Holland and Mark Walberg made a decent team for me. It's funny, I could not see either or doing the movie by themselves, but they make a lot of sense together.

Can't come up with much to say about it, except that it was as good as I thought it would be. It not going to change lives and it's in no way bad movie, and in all the ways its worth seeing.