- Release Date: 18/02/2022
- Cast: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Antonio Banderas
- Director: Ruben Fleischer
Uncharted is based on a PlayStation game that has been around for years and has enjoyed varying degrees of accolades and criticism. It will be safe to say that Uncharted would easily rank as one of the most popular video games ever made and in many ways redefined game mechanics, production design, and character development. The feature film version of it has been in the making for ages but has always been in troubled waters for some reason or the other. One actor who has been associated with the project from the very beginning was Mark Wahlberg. He was initially approached to play the protagonist but the project got delayed so many times that he has now been reduced to playing a side character to Tom Holland’s protagonist, Nathan Drake.
The story is simple enough. Nathan Drake is a petty thief and bartender. He lost his elder brother, Sam at an early age when the man ran away from the orphanage that the two were growing up in after the police nabbed him and Nathan as they were trying to steal a map holding the location of the Magellan treasure from a museum. While Sam goes after the treasure and apparently reached quite close, Nathan spends his time reading up on history and being a bartender/petty thief. He hasn’t heard from Sam for a while even though he used to previously communicate with Nathan quite regularly through postcards of places that he was visiting. Sully (Mark Wahlberg), a high-profile thief, who is after the same Magellan treasure and knew Sam, reaches out to Nathan and tries to recruit him to help him find the treasure. Nathan agrees as he feels that it might help him get closer to his brother’s whereabouts and walk in his footsteps. The money in it was alluring too. Thus begins an adventure that takes the duo to different corners of the world and brings them face to face with some marauding men after the same treasure and life-threatening dangers.
I liked Uncharted for the fact that it is an extremely focused film. The film starts smack in the middle of the action. It is followed by a flashback where Nathan meets Sully and the two set out on the quest. Everything after this meeting is in some way or the other related to the central treasure hunt. Every character in the film is after the same treasure and holds some part of the key that is essential to reach the treasure. Each of the characters apart from Nathan is dubious. As the story progresses, their allegiances keep changing leading to some interesting situations. The treasure hunt itself offers a lot of challenges as are customary with treasure hunts. These twists and turns are envisioned well and offer some interesting moments.
Tom Holland is terrific as Nathan Drake. He not only suits the character in terms of his imposing physicality but also has enough charm and screen presence to keep the audiences interested in some of the dull moments. There isn’t any path-breaking drama here to contain with but whatever little dramatic moments are there, are essayed with conviction by Tom Holland. Mark Wahlberg is the perfect foil for Tom Holland and after a long time, he gets a part that he looks comfortable playing. I loved the exchanges between him and Tom Holland and they added a lot to the fun element of the film.
Sophia Ali does what she was cast in the film to do. She is there to add unpredictability to the already uncomfortable alliance of the three characters. She is unpredictability embodied and her actions result in some interesting situations and comic moments. I absolutely loved what happened with the character in the end. Antonio Banderas is wasted in a role that could have been essayed by anyone. I couldn’t understand why Fleischer needed him to play the character if he was always planning to dispose of him in a manner that he does. This also begs the question of why Banderas decided to do the part when it was nothing but a disservice to his stature and acting abilities.
One of the biggest issues with the film was its total lack of tension. The film starts with Holland hopping over tumbling boxes from a plane before he is finally hit by a tumbling car. He doesn’t get a single scratch from all these perpetually deadly hits. This was just the first few minutes of the film. Throughout the rest of the film, innumerable similar situations present themselves and none of them are able to put even a scratch on Holland’s body. Thus it becomes apparent that he is protected by the plot armor and is making his way through the adventure in what is called the “god mode” in games. The same can be said about Wahlberg and Sophia Ali too. Ali is shown ripping off the door of a car along with portions of its body as if she was superhuman.
While the action and the CGI of the film are on point, the makers never try to blend the pristine CGI with the real atmosphere, and thus you will always know what you are watching is not real. This always plays at the back of the mind of the audience and coupled with the lack of tension and fear of mortal harm to the protagonist and his allies, the film loses all its tension. That is never a good thing for an adventure film. Looking back at the best adventure films like Indiana Jones, while the protagonist is protected by plot armor, he is never out of harm’s way. He is battered, bruised, and is even at the risk of losing his near and dear ones. That feeling of tension is sorely missing from this film and that is what pushes it down a couple of notches. It is also a fact that nothing we see in the film is extraordinary. It also doesn’t involve the audience in its mystery and adventure as you might expect to do in a game where you have control of the characters and are expected to solve the puzzles.
Uncharted is strictly for the ones who haven’t played the games. Anyone who has played the games will have major issues with the characterization of the protagonist and some of the other characters of the film and will definitely rue the lack of tension and thrill. Even for someone like me, who hasn’t played the game, the film felt flimsy and drained of any genuine tension or thrills. While I appreciate the performances and the hard work that has gone into the world-building, it isn’t enough to make an engrossing and endlessly entertaining film.
Rating: 2.5/5 (2.5 out of 5 stars)
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