As we constantly see more and more video games being adapted on to the big screen, it’s becoming clear that’s there only two ways that movies based around video games can possibly work. 1.) It has to be a movie that is not exclusively based off a video game but more a movie that is ABOUT video games. 2.) It has to be a movie based around a certain genre that the games are based off of rather than be a straight up faithful adaption of the games. Wreck-It Ralph and Free Guy are examples that fits the first definition. Rampage, Detective Pikachu, and Sonic The Hedgehog are examples that fit the second one. While we may see a possible exception in the near future (hopefully two months from now with the next Sonic movie that looks like a mix between the games Sonic 2 and 3 & Knuckles), this is the two ways you can make it work. What’s intriguing but also unfortunate about Uncharted is that it tries to fit the criteria of both of those definitions and as a result, it ends up feeling like a rather bland, middle-of-the-road version of any of the previous video game movies I just mentioned.
It also falls into the same trappings that a number of these video games such as Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed suffer from where it spends the majority of the time focusing on either the least interesting aspects of the game or have the entire movie be an origin story of the characters learning to become the characters we know and love in the hopes that a sequel will be made so the filmmakers will able to make the movie they actually wanted to make in the first place. Heck, even some of the better video game movies like Tomb Raider (2018) and Sonic had this problem too. Why feel the need to justify a prequel’s existence just so you can get around to making the movie people wanted the first time around?
To be sure, Uncharted doesn’t strictly follow Nathan Drake as a very, young boy like some have feared when the casting of Tom Holland came about (although we do have a prologue of him as a 10 year old kid just before being separated from his brother, Sam) but it does show him meeting a couple of important characters from the games for the first time which includes as Sully (played by a MASSIVELY miscast Mark Wahlberg) and Chloe (played by a decently cast Sophie Taylor) as well as showing him in his “early” days of adventuring and as a bartender. Taking the way the fact that it’s hard to buy Tom Holland as someone in his mid 20s (even if he actually is), the film seems to think that the idea of Nathan Drake meeting these characters for the first time is compelling enough in it’s own right but it really isn’t. It doesn’t matter how Nathan met Sully for the first time or had a flirty (if not sexless) relationship with Chloe, what matters is that it happens. Backstory is backstory for a reason.
And it also doesn’t help that the quality of the story is as uneven as the casting. Tom Holland is a compelling enough actor and he doesn’t give a bad performance here but his Nathan Drake feels much more restrained than the games and resembles the kind of generic hero that he played in the forgettable Chaos Walking. It’s saying something that I bought Alden Ehrenich more as a younger Han Solo. Sophie Taylor works rather well as Chloe even if it kinda feels like she’s only here so there’s at least one more character that fans remember from the game and also to have a woman role that isn’t strictly a villain. Speaking of villains, Tati Gabrielle is stands out well on her own as the main antagonist while Antonio Bandreas is painfully underutilized as Santiago. However, the one that sticks out like a sore thumb in the very worst way is Mark Wahlberg as Sully. He doesn’t in any way, shape, or form resemble the character of Sully whatsoever. He’s overly serious, way too brooding, lacks mannerism, and even his wisecracks are forced. It also doesn’t help that Wahlberg himself just looks incredibly annoyed to be there. It’s almost as if he would’ve rather just played Nathan Drake himself, which is ironic considering he ALMOST got the role of Nathan Drake at one point. Even recently flawed video game movie adaptions like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City at least got the casting down to a T.
However, when it comes to the Uncharted games series, there comes at least two things that fans come to these games for, the action set pieces and the sense of adventure. And it delivers okay in that front but nothing that even compares remotely to the ones in the games or even more recent blockbusters/video game movies. The action in this movie is passable and not particularly poorly shot but aside from the airplane boat chase at around the climax, there’s nothing much that stands out here than even say the action in last year’s Mortal Kombat. And as for the overall adventure, it’s….fine enough but lacks an interesting or at least absurd enough MacGuffin as say National Treasure and the overall adventure feels lacking of size and scope than say Aquaman. The film is shot pretty well though with decent camerawork with light and colorful lenses throughout. While it may be a bland adventure, it’s at least a beautiful looking one.
Although, one thing that stands out is how completely how bloodless this movie is and how cheap the kills look. I know the games weren’t rated M for Mature but even they felt more felt more gruesome and left a mark more than anything here. Sony, you do know that this movie was rated PG-13 and not strictly PG? Right? Right?!
For those not familiar with the Uncharted series or just go in expecting a simple action adventure flick, you’ll probably get your money’s worth. There’s not enough awful things in it for me to call it bad but there’s just not enough good things in it to make me call it a winner either. It’s yet another example of a first installment of a famous IP that exists as an obligation and hope it’s name brand will be enough to help push forward a sequel that lies more in line with the movie that everyone wanted the first time around. The story it tells isn’t interesting enough in it’s own right and doesn’t tell us anything that we didn’t know before about these characters. And while the action is competent enough in it’s own right and the adventure itself might make for a two hour long distraction, there’s isn’t much to differentiate it from other video game based movies or even recent movies in general.
This has been a solid box office hit over the weekend and there’s certainly going to be talks for a sequel if it hasn’t already. If a second movie gets made, then hopefully it will provide a more intriguing treasure hunt along with having the character be much more resembling of the ones from the games. At its best, it can be to the Uncharted movies series what Sonic 2 will hopefully be to the Sonic movie series. At it’s worst, we’ll probably just end up with another Venom 2, for better or for worse.
Adam's Blog 