Uncharted: Movie Review

Cast: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle
Director: Ruben Fleischer

The Uncharted games on PlayStation are iconic.

Naughty Dog's cinematically-led adventure series traverses the world, essentially creating an Indiana Jones style video game that mines both the emotion and the depth of a character that's gripped a generation of gamers.

By contrast, the Uncharted movie seems to tick some of the game's boxes, but does it in a soulless way that betrays some of the talent involved, and despite a cliffhanger post credits scene, seems to be in uncharted waters for any potential sequel.

Tom Holland is Nathan Drake, a bartender blessed with plenty of historical knowledge and who crosses paths with Mark Wahlberg's Victor "Sully" Sullivan who entices him into an adventure that hints at revealing something of his long-missing brother, Sam.

However, as Nate and Sully head off to find the truth about Magellan's missing gold, Antonio Banderas' villainous Santiago Moncada steps into the frame, determined to claim his birthright.

Uncharted is relatively pacy for its 2 hour run time, and borrows liberally from iconic sequences from the game within the first 10 minutes, but as it begins to play out, there's a distinct feeling that this would-be adventure is lacking in spirit and chutzpah, preferring to play it safe, rather than maybe taking a few risks.

There's clearly a love for the source material here, with traps, sleuthing, nods to the game, and a beachside cameo for fans, but there's a distinct lack of chemistry between Wahlberg and Holland's characters, which would have given the movie a bit of badly-needed sparkle.

The one silver lining is Sophia Ali's Chloe Fraser, a fellow treasure hunter whose loyalties can't easily be guessed and who's clearly having a blast, playing a hard-as nails character whose agency doesn't rely on any of the male leads.

She's one of the only things that injects some life into some truly flat sequences - not even Holland's usual charisma can pull the film out of the "merely adequate" territory it finds itself in. Banderas is utterly wasted and underused, making a villain that's about as villainous as a chocolate bar.

That's half the trouble with Uncharted - it's frustratingly close to what could have been at times - as a post credits scene hints at - but spends most of the film zipping by its planned narrative stops rather than taking time to create a brand new mythology and subsequent franchise that's worth revisiting.