By Abigail Mulonas
“Uncharted” is a largely unimpressive and mulled-down action flick that goes through the same stereotypical events of every other film. Constructed from ordinary commonplace ideas where it does all the things we have seen before, this film does not execute in any new way.
This video game to film adaptation follows street-smart Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) who is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) to recover a fortune that was lost 500 years ago. What starts as a heist job for the duo becomes a globe-trotting, white-knuckle race to reach the prize before the ruthless Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), who believes he and his family are the rightful heirs.
What gets me going about this film is that it wasn’t horrendous, as it was actually quite average. Rather on a whole this creates more of a prequel storyline to a character that doesn’t hold the stakes to be developed into a motion picture. Looking at it from a fan of the video game series too, while this has its parallels, it didn’t give justice to the series but it didn’t ruin Uncharted’s name, either.
The limited fighting choreography neither uses the full potential of the adrenaline pumping situations nor Holland’s agility. The predicted movements and unappealing victory over the bad guys does not credit the protagonist one bit, as we have no hero to rely on and no satisfying, defining moment to recognize.
Not to mention a drive toward no tangible thing, the indulging journey this pursues is by no means gratifying. With no help from the stiff, uncomfortable dialogue and the chaotic voiceover narration, the lack of a collective vibe fails to distinguish this film from feeling like it’s developing toward a purpose.
While Holland’s acting abilities go deeper than the roles he’s been given, this film does get one thing right – he has stepped into the position of being this generation’s movie star.
I mean this in the way that no matter what he makes, he has become our era’s version of actors like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwanznegger, and Tom Cruise, a type of actor we haven’t had in recent years. These guys made an immense amount of quick and easy action flicks that, in the very least, entertained and made people want to watch them in theaters.
The pure star power of Holland and Wahlberg included, however, are enough to keep you engaged and not check your watch, as they solely are the ones holding your attention. Their presence is intriguing enough to keep viewers engaged despite the so-so content and lackluster screenwriting, though their performances certainly won’t win any awards .
While “Uncharted” does not, in the slightest, classify as a must-see or deserve to be re-watched, at least I had a fun time watching, which I can’t say about many films.
Rating: 6/10
