Uncharted Movie Review: A passable origins story that fails to match the game's calibre

Hollywood's tryst with game adaptations has been anything but smooth. Some of the biggest titles in the gaming industry have been turned into duds when adapted to the big screen. Street Fighter, Hitman, Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., Silent Hill, Need for Speed, Assassin's Creed - name a game that has spawned into a franchise over the years and most likely, there will be a film that would have done a disservice to the game and its loyal fans. While the success of recent ones like Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) have shown that not all hope is lost, this week's release Uncharted has proved once again that game adaptations will almost have the best parts of it lost in translation.

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

Game lovers know the contribution of the Uncharted game series to the rise in the standards of single-player video games for fifteen years. Its protagonist Nathan Drake is a globe-trotting swashbuckler who has taken gamers on a virtual journey through different terrains across the globe. We get to witness the best of what the "uncharted" world has to offer and on the way, also watch Drake in several risky action blocks that he always have a nifty way of getting out of. While the Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg-starrer tries its best to recreate that, what we are left with is a CG powered trip that looks the part but fails miserably in every other department.

Drake (Tom Holland) has a sad backstory involving an older brother going MIA. Cut to the present, he's a small-time thief working as a bartender to whom Victor 'Sully' Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) offers an offer that he can't refuse. After the usual apprehension followed by the usual nod, the duo embarks on an adventure that's laced with mysteries, traps, baddies, back-stabbers and of course, a lot of gold. It might sound like a tried and tested formula - films like Indiana Jones, games like Tomb Raider have made this a sure-shot plot and a never-ending list of films, including the recent Red Notice, have prospered from. Even then, Uncharted fails to hit the mark thanks to a weak story, convenient and predictable twists and one-dimensional secondary characters. Because of this, the stakes aren't high and a sense of risk that our duo are battling never hits us the way it should. A sequence that involves Drake jumping between cargo crates as they are getting thrown out from a flying plane - a shot that was widely used in promotions - falls flat because it's literally the first shot in the film and the audience know that all the luck in the world will favour our hero. Not a popcorn was dropped, not a drop of cold coffee was spilt and not a clap could be heard!

Ironically, Wahlberg was supposed to play Drake in the earlier drafts of this film which had been in development hell for years and his performance as Sully feels like he's not happy about playing the second fiddle. What's supposed to be a man with inner conflicts, a dark past and a father figure to Drake ends up being a cardboard cut out of this character that's greedy for wealth in the beginning but learns that people are harder to earn. Holland fits in perfectly like the final piece in a puzzle when it comes to the action sequences. His background with parkour and the flexibility that it gives comes to fruition when we see him battling for dear life and it makes one believe that his Spidey-sense is still intact. Only when he's not jumping between planes do we get to see a Holland who struggles to bear the weight of a character that is meant to learn as he goes through the worst of people and places. Because of this, when Drake holds a fire torch, gets his iconic ring chain or the gun holster - an attire that's sacrosanct to the fan of the franchise - it feels like a neighbourhood kid decked up for a fancy dress competition.

And while we are at it, what's with writing insipid female characters when it comes to action-adventure films? In Uncharted, we meet the fan favourite Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) and a new character named Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle). While one's supposed to be Drake's romantic interest and the other should be a cold-hearted criminal, both of them feel like characters cut from the same cloth as they share the same attributes - to look swag, be cut-throat cunning (to be taken literally at times) and be fooled by our Drake. Both the actors show tremendous potential only to be oppressed by their characters' limitations. The film also wastes the usually brilliant Antonio Banderas with a role that's better left unsaid. The silver lining has to be the spectacular visuals that we are left to witness as the film takes us on a world tour, everywhere from the usual Boston and New York to the exotic Barcelona and Kiamba, Philippines. Those who have played the game will have a few easter eggs and references which might make them enjoy the film a little more. For example, there's a scene where Drake  goes, "It's hard to find a good partner in this game."

If there's another reason that might push the film from a lost hope to the 'watchable' category, it has to be the funny banter between Drake and Sully. The film does have a couple of post-credit scenes and it might even become a film franchise, mirroring that of the game, for which Uncharted should have been an excellent origins story. But what we are left with are textbook characters that survive the craziest of scenarios like its child's play, solve the deadliest of puzzles like it's newspaper sudoku and save the day like it's their day job. If the makers are still on track to make a sequel, those plans better are left uncharted.