Film Review: Uncharted
Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Publicity Australia.
Fifteen years is a long time in the zeitgeist. When Uncharted first hit PlayStations in 2007, video games were starting to mature with new graphical capabilities and they were eager to catch up with movies from the 80’s. Indiana Jones strikes a particularly poignant tone in the conversation, inspiring Tomb Raider, and obviously Uncharted.
In 2022 videogame movies have certainly made a comeback, with Sonic, Need for Speed, and Assassin’s Creed having received healthy box office earnings if not critical acclaim over the last few years, but the difference being that those features had the opportunity to release alongside entries for their series on gaming platforms. On the other hand, the latest gaming entry in the Uncharted franchise is six years old, the movie itself having been caught in development hell since 2008. The finished product is another addition to the library of OK movies based on better games.
Uncharted presents itself as a prequel to the first game’s narrative, with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg cast as Nathan Drake and Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan respectively. Wahlberg, - who fresh off featuring in another videogame movie Max Payne (2008), was originally cast as Drake before delays pushed him into a more suitable age bracket to play Sully - hams up his appearance with a tired charm. Simply sliding Wahlberg into another role like this to keep him around during development issues was not necessarily a play in the film’s favour, as the lively old adventurer seen in the games is not reflected in the more too-cool-to-care approach favoured by the action star.
Tom Holland also struggles to find his balance here, as COVID pushed editing into the 2020’s which effectively left us with a performance from Holland when his only other blockbuster film at the time was Spiderman Homecoming. Unable to hold a lead role in major film, his performance falters between the unconfident dork seen in Spiderman and a little glimmer of Angelina Jolie’s star power in Tomb Raider.
The film itself is faithful to the original games, almost too much so when considering the physics on display from the get-go. Seeing Drake jumping along crates of cargo suspended from a plane looked incredibly unrealistic on screen when it comparatively didn’t bother me at all in the games. When I noted this internal hypocrisy, only then was I able to fully enjoy Uncharted for what it is – an entertaining timewaster.
Just like sitting down for a couple of hours in front of the PlayStation, I didn’t come here to see the plot and character development, or for the emotional depth and intricate puzzles. I came here for the set pieces and violence, which are delivered with mixed success. The beautiful scenes of robberies and pillages, tombs and art exhibits always dropped jaws with sets immaculately filled with ancient architecture and gorgeous golden lighting. I can’t tell how much was greenscreen or props, but what I can say is that on a cinema screen it really doesn’t matter. Moving on to the narrative, plot twists and betrayals typically drew groans and/or unintentional laughs. Was it because of bad writing, or is it because it’s based on a game? Again, I couldn’t tell you.
All-in-all, for a movie that’s nearly two decades late, it could’ve been a lot worse. Maybe it’s even good enough for Sony to reset the timeline and pump out a couple of sequels, a few more games, and a lot more merch.
Uncharted is showing in cinemas nationally now.