Uncharted Film Review (No Spoilers)

'Uncharted' Columbia Pictures & PlayStation Productions

With PlayStation Productions' first feature film, this popular video game has mapped its way onto the big screen as the ultimate action packed adventure of 2022. Starring Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter, The Departed, Ted) this story has no limits as Director, Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Gangster Squad, Venom) provides an Indiana Jones and National Treasure mashup.

Synopsis:

"Treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan recruits street-smart Nathan Drake to help him recover a 500-year-old lost fortune amassed by explorer Ferdinand Magellan. What starts out as a heist soon becomes a globe-trotting, white-knuckle race to reach the prize before the ruthless Santiago Moncada can get his hands on it. If Sully and Nate can decipher the clues and solve one of the world's oldest mysteries, they stand to find $5 billion in treasure -- but only if they can learn to work together."

What You See, Feel, and Hear

Oddly enough this film went through, what feels like, a million hoops in order to bring this story together. With an original release date of June 10th, 2016 and four release date delays later we finally have the opportunity to experience Uncharted. The look of this film is a bit saturated and glossy which provided more focus on the atmosphere of the story rather than the emotions of the individual characters. For a film that develops your interest on the story more than the characters the look felt exactly how it needed to.

The chemistry between Wahlberg and Holland was surprisingly strong, however I feel as if we didn't see enough of the two together on screen. It's been awhile since I've seen Wahlberg in a supporting role and unfortunately it felt a bit off. Holland, on the other hand, had quite the "culture shock" when it came to the action of this film compared to his experience in Spider-Man. He expressed a specific scene in this film being the hardest action sequence he's ever made. He also compared his action packed experiences of Spider-Man to Uncharted by stating how lucky he is for wearing a mask in Spider-Man. If Holland is crashing into buildings in Spider-Man the production team can use CGI to put those sequences together whereas in Uncharted it's "just him in a henley and cargo pants." Something worth noting, Uncharted was filmed right before Spider-Man: No Way Home.

With the film slated as a prequel to the games the story sets you up for a potential sequel, however Wahlberg only signed on for one film. In the right context this series could become our modern day Indiana Jones or National Treasure series as Tom Holland has developed himself into an instant fan favorite.

My Take

This film proved better than I thought heading in. The story was fast-paced from start to finish. I enjoyed Tom Holland though it's hard to see him in an adventure film as someone other than Peter Parker (which I'm not sure how he could get away from that). Wahlberg's performance wasn't disappointing but a bit underwhelming. As I mentioned above it's different seeing him in a supporting role and it didn't fit his persona as well as I had hoped. I was worried about forced comedic moments going into this story such as "Red Notice" and thankfully I felt like the comedic sequences fit the story naturally. A great adventure for kids and adults alike and I'm sure Uncharted will be a film that sticks around for years to come.

Grade: 6.8/10