Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg star in this beloved, if not inspiring, adaptation of the beloved video game Uncharted, which follows the adventures of treasure hunters Nathan Drake and his mentor Sully. After over ten years in development, with nearly every famous person in Hollywood playing Drake (including Wahlberg himself), a creative decision was made to make the film an origin story and focus on young Nate as he embarks on his work. The first adventure.
The film begins in New York, where Nate works as a waiter. He is recruited by Victor “Sully” Sullivan to help him find hidden treasure related to the Magellan Expedition. Sully explains that he worked with Nate’s older brother, Sam, who has now disappeared. Nate agrees to help, but it’s not about the treasure but about finding his brother.
Thus begins their amusing journey around the world as they team up with fortune hunter Chloe Fraser (Sofia Ali) as they try to avoid getting killed by Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), a ruthless billionaire who believes the treasure is his. There are loads of puzzles to solve, tombs to raid, battles to roll, crosses to multiply, and planes to shoot down. This is the classic formula of an adventure movie. But as we all know, there are some long shadows in this genre and it can be very difficult to get rid of them.
Why watch Uncharted when you can watch the first “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Goonies”, “National Treasure” or the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” instead? Uncharted borrows from them all, which is fine, of course, but it doesn’t add anything new to the conversation. Speaking of conversations, the text needed at least another thorough rewrite to improve the dialogue. The sharp banter between the main characters does not have the necessary urgency.
The plus side is that some of the stunts in the movie are excellent and you can tell Tom Holland throws himself into it with real enthusiasm. Unfortunately, since most of the movie was shot on a sound stage in front of blue screens, much of this great action is undermined by the bland, weightless visuals. The movie’s massive footage features a faint glow and a bit of a video game scene.
However, since popcorn is a Saturday night movie you can sit back and enjoy, it almost worked. It never turns it on, but it’s never so boring that you want to turn it off, too. I realize this curses him with poor praise, but there really is an iota of good movies here. Few real world locations, and another passage in the text will work wonders. If they make a sequel, I will definitely be watching it. Although I may have been waiting for it to appear on Netflix.
This Blu-ray has a fairly extensive list of special features. Some are good, others are involuntarily funny. There is a director’s commentary with Robin Fleischer as well as 10 minutes of deleted and expanded scenes. Then we move on to some of the features that work behind the scenes.
The first is “Never a Null Moment: Stunts & Action” which explores the action scenes in the film. Anyone who’s seen behind-the-scenes footage of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies will know he does a lot of stunts. It continues here, and he’s clearly a very capable stunt performer. However, he has thrown the executive producer’s hat off some terrible PR nonsense. Things like “movies aren’t made that way anymore” and “it’s really original”. Sorry, Tom, but they are and they don’t.
Becoming Nathan Drake delves into extended development, with Mark Wahlberg recalling how he was cast as Drake at one point. This is often overlooked to see how amazing Holland is and how making it an origin story was the best decision you could ever make. Which of course is true because the movie didn’t go anywhere until it was shot.
Other films focus on the supporting actors, directors, and on-screen and off-screen dynamics of Holland and Wahlberg, and deconstruct the film’s distinctive action scene. The CD contains a music video for Milkblood’s “No Mind” and a selection of marketing clips.
Spitting: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Antonio Banderas Director: Robin Fleischer writer: Raf Lee Judkins, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway Posted by: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment certificate: 12 interval: 116 minutes Release date: ninthMay 2022
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