#MovieReview: “Uncharted” – polished visuals but lacking in substance

Grand in scope but lacking original thought, Uncharted is an exercise in recycled adventure film tropes.

Uncharted is based on a well-loved Playstation game series, but is unable to distill any of the adventure and action that made the series such a success.

The film borrows liberally from National Treasure, The Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones, but fails to steal any of the magic, charm or fun that made them watchable.

Still, it is better than most video game big screen adaptations – which ultimately serve to promote the game and console rather than provide a cogent stand-alone film.

One thing becomes increasingly clear however, Tom Holland is a bona fide movie star, able to come out of a lackluster film unscathed.

Spoilers to follow

Uncharted opens on Nathan Drake (Holland) who has been flung out of the back of a plane midair.

Before we are able to understand the circumstances that led to the high-flying balancing act, the film cuts to a young Nate with his older brother Sam.

It is the first example of how the video game has influenced the film, with scenes that appear as cutscenes, leading ostensibly to nowhere before being picked up later on.

The Drake brothers are children in a New York orphanage who yearn for adventure, poring over historical treasure maps and learning the history of global circumnavigation.

This knowledge, they think, will lead them to riches when they are old enough to hop on a plane and begin their search.

Specifically, they focus on a legendary treasure that has been lost to time, that of Francis Drake’s gold in the Philippine Sea.

Drake is apparently a relative of the boys and they feel an ancestral link to adventure through his story.

Being the older brother, Sam leaves on his search first, sending Nate postcards from far-flung reaches of the world.

Nate is stuck in the city, working as a bartender and petty thief, which catches the eye of veteran treasure hunter, Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg).

They team up to track Nate’s big fish, the aforementioned Drake treasure.

Along the way, the team face off against Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), a wealthy Spaniard who believes the gold is due to him and his family as the original financiers of Drake’s trip.

Naturally, there are twists and turns along the way, with all the characters set up to double-cross each other.

This should be a perfect setting for tension and intrigue, but the chemistry and banter between characters is so dry that it could have been written by an algorithm.

The climactic action scene of the film is so large and ridiculous that it jumps the shark, but somehow works despite itself.

Three dimensional characters and a well-reasoned plot were never going to be the focus of a video game film, and if you understand that, then it is enjoyable enough.

Uncharted is clearly designed for the Playstation market and it is likely to be remembered only by children who see the film as their first taste of big screen adventure.

Rated PG13 for some Violence, Action and Language.
2.5/5.

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