Uncharted Film Review

*Insert gasp here.* The Uncharted film review is here. And I actually enjoyed it. Hold on. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the very beginning. Ok. Being part of a bad-ass company like IndieGala has its perks I must say. I mean I get to play games, watch movies and write about them afterwards. But the thing is, now in this article I’m about to write about a video game series that we don’t even sell or promote. Well, not yet anyway. Stay tuned for that BTW and come back to IndieGala soon. Yeah. However, we do have plenty of other amazing action/adventure games to offer. God of War is one of them (get it here), and it’s available for purchase here. Horizon Zero Dawn is another great one to check out.

And speaking of video game series, the Far Cry franchise is a great example for this article (check it out here) and so is the Assassin’s Creed franchise. You can take a closer look at it here with one of my Filmaholic Gamer Reviews I did last year. However, we’re here about the Uncharted franchise. Let me tell you more about it.

Uncharted Film Review
Tom Holland as Nathan Drake

What’s Uncharted All About?

Created by the very talented Amy Hennig, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment Uncharted is a fantastic action-adventure game series. One that started back in 2007 with the first game of the series. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. But yes. The games follow Nathan Drake. A treasure hunter who travels across the world to uncover various historical mysteries. But almost 15 years later, and 10 games later, Uncharted is one of the most bankable and beloved series. It sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and it’s been gaining praise ever since.

What for you might ask? Well, high production values, quality in storytelling, character design and animation, for one. Next for the voice acting, realistic graphics, technical innovation, musical score, gameplay mechanics, And yes, the delivering an enjoyable cinematic gaming experience to players. Not to mention the series helped elevate Naughty Dog’s reputation as a highly respected video game developer in the industry.

Uncharted Film Review

The Uncharted Game Series VS The Uncharted Film Review

But when it comes to picking the favorite Uncharted game, this Rookie over here would have to go with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. It has probably the best villain, the best story and although Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has probably one of the best beginnings of all time and it’s probably in the top 3 Uncharted games of mine… Yeah, I’d have to go with the 4.

But before I could go on with this review, I’d have to mention the Uncharted Live Action Fan Film. You know, the fan film with Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake. It also stars Stephen Lang, Geno Segers, Mircea Monroe, and Ernie Reyes Jr, and yes. It’s 14 minutes of pure awesomeness.

But let’s get back to the Uncharted Film Review.

The Uncharted Film Review: Was It Worth The Wait?

Well yeah. It was for me. Look, I’m not trying to convince you that it’s awesome and that it’s one of the best video adaptations out there. Because it’s not. And at times it’s not even trying. But it did keep me entertained for almost 2 hours, it was silly and fun and exciting to watch. And it made me realize why I love adventure movies in the first place. Sure, I have some complaints, and some bones to pick with the crew, about several of the casting decisions… But it is decent for what it is. An action-adventure movie. Just don’t try to compare it to the games way too much. Don’t go there. I know you should, but it’s a lost cause.

Uncharted Film Review

But where are my manners? Uncharted, the movie, is directed by Ruben Fleischer and it has Tom Holland in the role of the legendary fortune hunter Nathan Drake. Mark Wahlberg stars opposite Tom as the fellow seasoned fortune hunter and reluctant ally Victor “Sully” Sullivan. While Antonio Banderas is the main baddie Santiago Moncada. All of them and more are after the treasure of the Magellan expedition, and they’ll go to great lengths to get it.

The Good Outweighs The Bad?

Well, kinda. Again… At least for me, it does. I’m even going so far as to put Uncharted in the most entertaining video games adaptations. Which is something I can’t say about RE: Welcome To Racoon City. Oh my god don’t even get me started about that one. But yeah. Although totally miscast, Tom Holland and even Mark Wahlberg are giving their best here. When it comes to the performances I mean, and they do a bit of jumping, fighting as well. Well, Tom more so than the rest admittedly. But I even have nothing but praise for Banderas’s evil ways here.

Antonio Banderas

And yeah. I’ll admit. The screenplay is all over the place, and it doesn’t care to go deep into character development. But it did follow a somewhat coherent narrative and it took me on a globe-throttling adventure. Not to mention there’s the nice energetic camera movement from the director to look forward to. There were puzzles, maps, clues, and keys to open those clues and I liked that almost all of the roles were given their time to shine. Even my girl Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali). However, when it comes to the script, I have a problem with the –subverting your expectations– catch in the script that’s beginning to look like a trope at this point. Almost every single one in this movie is a lying, cheating, backstabbing, thieving man (or a woman) and yeah. It turned out to be tiresome near the end. The thrill was gone by the end.

Thrilling Final Act? (spoilers)

Well, it kinda was. With ridiculous over the top CGI of course, but I think that’s half of the charm. But all joking aside, the final 20 minutes or so are wild and mostly contained in the air. There are some pirate-inspired fights, with a modern flair, and some cool set pieces/locations too. I’m not complaining though.

And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I enjoyed the action and well… and the movie in general, leading up to that final act. Yes, it might not be the most faithful to the source material (the script doesn’t help), and it won’t win any prizes, but it will take you back. Back where exactly? Well to the Jack Hunter franchise, the Indiana Jones franchise and even to the National Treasure franchise. Loved all of them and they’re a lovely part of my movie-going history. And Uncharted reminded me of all of them. In bits and pieces but yeah. There’s a hint of them in the movie.

Look. I know that most critics and even the fans of the franchise are going to pick it apart. Some even might shred it to pieces, and dismiss it as another failed attempt at Hollywood to make a decent video game adaptation. For me, it’s not, but I know where would you be going with your review. And yeah, his is probably the bad/good movie that I’ll be defending in the years to come. Speaking of…

Are You A Fan? Let Us Know Your Uncharted Film Review

Seriously. Tell us all about the Uncharted movie. Did you like it? Or it was a dud for you? Hit that comment section and let us know.

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