Uncharted Review

It took 15 years for the Uncharted series to jump from PlayStation consoles to the big screens. If you are coming in as a fan of those games, you might be taken aback by just how much the story has changed to fit the runtime of a movie. I spent a lot of the time trying to piece things together from the story I’ve been through in the games. I realized that you have to enjoy it for what it is and not expect things to be the same, even though there are some notable exclusions.

Story

Uncharted starts off exploring the relationship between Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) and his brother Sam, who are both orphans living together in what appears to be a boys’ home. Sam quickly escapes the facility they were both in after trying to steal a special map. That provides one of the major plot points of the movie. Nate never knew where Sam had gone, save for a postcard here and there from his journeys; he just knew he was exploring the world as he had always dreamed of.

We’re thrown right into a scene with an older Nate, who is a cocky young thief working in an upscale restaurant/bar. Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) is looking for his next score. Nate is his recruit of choice, but Nate doesn’t take too kindly to his recruiting at first until he finds out that Sully has the map that Nate and Sam were trying to steal at the beginning of the movie. I appreciated that they didn’t go into much backstory with this one. Many people who will watch this movie will be familiar with the games. Even if they aren’t, it’s easy enough to jump right into this world and explain things on the fly if needed. Nate and Sully are joined by the snarky Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali), and the adventure starts to ramp up.

Characters

Nathan Drake

I was pretty excited when it was announced that Tom Holland would play Nathan Drake. I felt he had the right personality and delivery to bring this character to life authentically. Holland is a little bit younger than Nate in the video games, but it’s a concession that works and might work out quite well if this becomes a series of movies. He seems like a natural fit for the role, with quick wit, poise, and confidence. It was also evident in seemingly perilous situations where Holland showed no fear and reacted with one-liners. I don’t think this character could have been cast any better than they did here.

Sully

I wasn’t initially quite as pleased with the casting of Mark Wahlberg as Sully. I have nothing against him, and I tend to like his movies a lot, but he doesn’t seem to embody many qualities that make Sully such a memorable character. He doesn’t have that thick mustache or assertive, recognizable voice. It just felt like they could have given him at least more of that look. It felt like it was just Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg, the person, not Sully. Despite the noticeable differences, Wahlberg pulled off a believable Sully, straddling the line between endearing and untrustworthy. You never knew whether Sully would stab Nate in the back, which made for some good tension throughout the film.

Chloe Frazer

In what might have been the best casting choice, Sophia Ali plays Chloe Frazer perfectly to a T. Chloe is a crafty lone wolf in the game who isn’t afraid to do what she needs to do to get what she wants and play both sides. This is very much what we see in the movie, yet she remains one of my favorite characters. I felt like her story arc abruptly ended late in the film, and I wished we had seen what was next for her. They may be saving that for a possible sequel, but I thought we’d see some more meaningful interaction between the three central treasure hunters at the end of the movie, outside of a couple of glances.

Villains

The villains in Uncharted were essentially an afterthought. Tati Gabrielle played Braddock, who turned out to be the more notable villain. Still, we didn’t get to see too many scenes where she was involved, nor did we get to explore her motivations very much beyond the obvious. Antonio Banderas played the main villain, but he barely had any screen time, so I didn’t get much out of his limited appearances. It’s not unlike what we see in an Uncharted game; none of those villains have been all that memorable either. That might have been what they were going for here. The underlying theme is to illustrate the destructive effects of greed on individuals. It’s a simple premise that has been done to death, but it works in this film.

New and Familiar

The trio of Chloe, Nate, and Sully get into many chases, fights, and traps they must find their way out of. The banter between the characters kept everything pretty light, even in some of the most challenging situations. My favorite part of the movie was during the final act. Nate and Sully searched for treasure in a pirate cave, resulting in shootouts and narrowly escaping death on multiple occasions with some tremendous set pieces. It was fun and reminded me most of its video game counterpart, which I hoped for.

I question why it deviated so much from the source material because there were so many things you could have pulled from the games to work with, especially if we’re looking at a potential series of movies. Where was Elena (Nate’s wife)? I thought she would show up, but she was never mentioned. That was a pretty huge change to make. I can handle adjusting the storyline slightly, but leaving out a significant character is challenging to comprehend.

Easter Eggs

I did appreciate the love shown for the games in a couple of Easter Eggs I noticed in the movie (though there were probably more). In one scene, Nate opens up a chest with a sticker for Naughty Dog inside. This refers to the development studio behind the Uncharted games for those who haven’t played them. The other Easter Egg involved Nolan North, the voice actor for Nate in the games, seeing Holland’s Nate wash up on the beach and having a brief exchange. They were fun little additions that didn’t distract from the story, and I thought they were well done.

Final Thoughts

Uncharted is a fun new take on one of my favorite video game series. It was a good way to introduce the audience to the Nathan Drake character and the premise of the Uncharted series. Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg have great chemistry together, and the movie moved at a nice pace where I never longed for some action. It’s a fun, treasure-hunting story with good characters, entertaining dialogue, and excellent action set pieces. Just don’t expect it to follow the games too closely.