It's easy to be dubious of a video game movie adaptation, considering their shaky history. But Uncharted is alright. It's far from perfect, but still a good time at the movies with Tom Holland.
The Spider-Man: No Way Home actor stars as Nathan Drake, the treasure-hunter-with-a-heart-of-gold, who leads the PlayStation video game series, on which the movie is based. Directed by Ruben Fleischer (of Zombieland fame), this adaptation stands on its own as an origin story for our pal Nate.
Rather than pulling from any one game, Uncharted draws inspiration from a series that was itself inspired by the likes of Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones. Holland's Nate is a bartending, smooth-talking history nerd, who supplements his income by conning customers out of their valuables. We learn early on that the source of Nate's penchant for criminal mischief is his long-absent brother Sam, who — after being expelled from the boarding school the Drake both boys attended — disappeared into the wider world.
It's not long before Nate meets Victor Sullivan aka Sully. Mark Wahlberg may not be the most welcome presence on screen, but he initially seems well-cast as an untrustworthy grifter, who always comes off like he's playing an angle. Nate even calls him out at one point, angrily declaring something like, "Stop figuring out the lie you're about to tell and just give me the truth!"
Sully has a job for Nate, a real big-money situation that he can't pull off on his own. The two are total strangers, but Sully has some history with Nate's brother. And the job he's planning — which Sam was set to help with before he disappeared — is really just one step toward a much larger reward: A lost gold hoard that once belonged to the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his ship crew.
There's nothing particularly surprising or original about the unfolding story in Uncharted. You'll see most of the double-crosses coming, either because they're telegraphed or simply as something you know in your gut because that's how movies like this work. An array of flashy action set pieces mix in with all of that. Even if you know how they're going to go in the end, they still make for a fun watch.
There's one stretch through the catacombs beneath Venice that's reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Another sequence cuts closer to the physics-demolishing chases that you'd see in a Fast and Furious movie. And of course, there's the cargo plane set piece we've all seen in trailers. This one is so intense that Uncharted double-dips, using a small slice of it for the movie's cold open before revealing everything with proper context later.
In all this, there are brief flashes of a movie that distinguishes itself from the general landscape of action-fueled blockbuster entertainment. Nate's borderline-superhuman agility and knack for free climbing — which are major elements in the game series — is a slickly shot highlight of every set piece, with Holland's Spidey stunt training no doubt coming in handy as he stylishly leaps, slides, and engages in fisticuffs.
Holland's action hero moments feel more like a nod to Jackie Chan's slapstick acrobatics than his own high-flying wall-crawler.
Holland is the strongest piece of Uncharted. His action-hero moments, which feel more like a nod to Jackie Chan's slapstick acrobatics than Marvel's high-flying wall-crawler, are only a piece of that. Nate likes a good wisecrack as much as any version of Peter Parker. But he's also an adult who has Been Through Stuff, and he acts like it. He's a little out of his element alongside veteran Sully. Yet he's far from the wholesome high schooler he's played in the Marvel movies.
It's impossible to avoid making that comparison. Spider-Man: No Way Home is still doing great in theaters as Uncharted arrives. For fans of both, the dissonance between the two characters is unmistakable. Nonetheless, Holland is a magnetic presence. He's clearly not the same as the game character the role is based on, but he gleefully picks up the Indiana Jones torch and runs with it. I had no choice but to shout myself hoarse after he asks in a playful nod, "Nuns. Why does it always gotta be nuns?" It's a hilarious tongue-in-cheek twist, but also reflects how deep-seated and vaguely irrational fears haunt both men.
There's more to the game it's playing than blockbuster eye candy.
As for Wahlberg, he is kinda just... there. His character's video game counterpart is a cigar-chomping conman who definitely loves Nate, but just as definitely loves himself and his personal enrichment far more. He's double-crossed his supposed friend more than once while still somehow always coming through in the end. We don't really like or trust him even as we see his lovable qualities.
Exactly half of that is true for Wahlberg's take. Movie Sully is an unrepentant conman and serial liar, and he's very upfront about it in a way that's abrasive. There's nothing lovable about him. Maybe that's because Uncharted is giving us the origin of his relationship with Nate, but it's not just that. Wahlberg's performance is also short on personality. Sully arrives as a one-dimensional character, who never really grows beyond the template that Wahlberg seems to have copied/pasted from his role in the Will Ferrell comedy, The Other Guys.
The further we dig into the cast, the lighter their characterizations get. The three would-be antagonists in Santiago Moncada, Braddock, and Chloe Frazer are all just different foils for Nate. Moncada (Antonio Banderas) is the mastermind, just out of reach and filled with schemes. Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) is the source of moment-to-moment tension as she and her flunkies hunt for and repeatedly scrap with Nate. And Frazer (Sophia Ali) is something akin to a femme fatale — less deadly by design. But just like Sully, she's driven most of all by a desire for financial self-enrichment. She's also the biggest disappointment.
Uncharted is a fine but flawed first step for what Sony no doubt hopes will be a new blockbuster franchise. But the game series it draws from is so much more than Nate, Sully, and set pieces. Frazer is a big part of that "so much more," as a recurring character and regular presence in Nate's life. (She even starred in her own excellent spin-off game.) Uncharted sets up some of those pieces. But like everyone not named Nathan Drake, we never spend enough time with her to get more than a surface impression.
That's a bad call on the filmmakers' part. The Uncharted games carefully sidestep most opportunities to reinforce toxic masculinity, but it's still a series that's led primarily by a white guy and his white guy partner in history crimes. As game developer Naughty Dog has matured over the years, that balance has shifted to give women and people of color both more prominent roles. So it's baffling that an Uncharted movie released in 2022 would short-change everyone after its lead white guy.
Exposition and character development are clearly sacrificed at the altar of making a gripping blockbuster roller coaster ride. So, we're left with yet another video game movie adaptation that's a poor reflection of its sensational source material. Sure, Uncharted is filled with entertaining and visually dazzling moments. Holland steps out of his Spidey spandex and capably demonstrates his leading man action-hero chops. I'd love to spend more time watching this character get up to all kinds of treasure-hunting mischief. I just hope a potential Uncharted 2 remembers there's more to the game it's playing than blockbuster eye candy.
Uncharted opens in theaters on Feb. 18.
Comments