Over the past years, Tom Holland has become a staple in the world of superhero and action movies. He has recently added to his rapidly growing career with his star role as Nathan “Nate” Drake, an ambitious young treasure hunter in the new movie “Uncharted.” The film, starring Mark Wahlberg along with Holland, is an adaptation of the popular four-part video game series, which is revered for its impressive graphics and vivacious characters. The movie serves as Nate’s background story, following him and his accomplice and mentor, Victor Sully, in their quest to find hidden treasure while racing against competitors.
The movie’s main selling points are the suspenseful and action-packed fight scenes paired with stunning visuals. The storyline is peppered with exciting video game style combat that takes place everywhere, from a beautifully timeworn church in Barcelona to the jutting cliff caves of the Costa Brava. The director’s creativity shines in moments such as the film’s in media res opening, when Nate precariously dangles from a crate hundreds of feet in the air. The combination of the camera angles and the breathtaking computer-generated images recreates the starting scene fans of the video game will recognize.
After the dramatic beginning, the storyline travels back in time. Nate is introduced as the charming and earnest protagonist, a role Holland is well suited for. In contrast, Walhberg’s portrayal of Victor Sully is less skillful. The actor seems disconnected from the character, and as a result, Sully and Nate’s dynamic does not have the intended sense of brotherhood. Apart from the occasional joke delivered at high-stakes moments, the banter exchanged between the two falls flat, and at points is detectably tense.
The puzzles Sully and Nate must solve in order to unlock more clues to the whereabouts of the long-lost multibillion dollar gold they seek are visually pleasing, but lacking in creativity and logic. The film’s foundation begins to crumble before the movie’s bridge into focusing on the competition and search. Its pacing feels off, as a surprisingly small portion of it is fully dedicated to the actual treasure hunting. An unnecessary amount of time is spent on side narratives with Nate’s brother, his competitors and their ever-changing allegiances. These elements render the film unable to redeem its plot.
Nate and Sully’s unconvincing dynamic later returns in the form of the movie’s unfitting ending. It attempts to leave viewers with the stereotypical “the real treasure was the friends we made along the way” moral, which has an unnatural and forced feel due to the lack of chemistry between the lead actors and an absence of storyline that supports this development. Fortunately, not all is lost with the ending due to an intriguing series of post credit scenes that spark theories surrounding a likely sequel.
All in all, “Uncharted” earns a solid 3.5/5 stars for the compelling entertainment it offers, despite its flaws. The vast difference in the poor critics’ reception but high general audience rating proves the age-old idea that most movie watchers simply see a movie for a few hours of diversion it provides, mainly undeterred by what critics claim are “points of weakness,” and “Uncharted” adequately fulfills that purpose. Both fans of the video game and newcomers to the “Uncharted” universe will find themselves caught up in the otherworldly adventures of Nate and Sully.
