Uncharted (2022) Review

 "I'm literally in a Papa John's right now."

-Victor "Sully" Sullivan

Small-time thief Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) is approached by a treasure hunter, Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlburg), with a plan to find a hoard of gold from Magellan's expedition.  Drake joins the quest in order to discover what happened to his brother, but doesn't realize that other treasure hunters are seeking the same loot.

What Works:

Just getting this out of the way, I have never played any of the Uncharted video games, though they do look fun.  I've just never owned a PlayStation, so I don't really know how well this movie captures the feel of the games, though I've heard there was controversy with the casting.  That said, I think Tom Holland does a really good job.  He's extremely charismatic and sells all of the the impressive feats of dexterity.  He and Mark Wahlberg have good chemistry and their relationship carries the movie.

There are also two really awesome action sequences that feel out of a video game.  I love the opening sequence on the plane and when we revisit it later, we get to see it from another character's perspective.  Later, the 3rd act battle on the flying ships is fantastic.  Sure, it's kinda stupid, but it's a lot of fun and they get very creative with it.  These scenes are the highlights of the film.

Since all of the characters in this movie are treasure hunters, I was never really sure who the main antagonist was.  There is Sully, plus three other characters who were all after the treasure.  Drake and the audience didn't know who to trust and the characters were also willing to betray each other.  I was very curious to see who would be left standing by the end of the film and who the ultimate villain would be.

Finally, I won't spoil who, but there is a death scene halfway through the movie that caught me very off guard.  It was very effectively done and an exciting twist.

What Sucks:

Apart from everything I mentioned above, Uncharted was mostly generic.  I like treasure hunting/adventure films, so it didn't need to be much more than that, but I probably won't remember this movie in a couple months.  It doesn't really do anything to stand out.

None of the characters are very well developed.  Apart from Drake, we aren't supposed to trust any of them, so we never really get to know them.  It makes it hard to be invested in the characters and story beyond the surface level.

Finally, it felt like the editing and writing was occasionally disjointed.  Maybe I need to rewatch the movie, but it occasionally felt like little pieces were missing.  Maybe this happened during reshoots, but maybe the film needed more reshoots.

Verdict:

For someone who has never played the games, Uncharted is a harmless and mildly entertaining film.  Tom Holland is good, there is some fun action, and a few twists and turns to go along with the suspense of not knowing who to trust.  It's nothing special and definitely could have been much better, but it's fine.  I can't speak for those who have played the games, but I'd recommend it when it comes out on streaming.  Don't waste money in the theater though.

 6/10: Okay