By Sarah D'Avila
Uncharted (2022)
PG-13 ~ 1h 56m
Genre: Adventure/Action
Cast: Tom Holland, Mark Whalberg, Sophia Taylor Ali, Tati Gabrielle, and Rudy Pankow
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Box Office: $308 million
Summary: 500 years ago, an explorer named Ferdinand Magellan lost treasure now worth $5 billion. Treasure hunter Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Whalberg) recruits Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) to help him on the expedition. As the heist continues, they discover that a ruthless Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) wants to capture the treasure as well. Sully and Nathan must learn to work together to solve one of the world’s oldest mysteries while discovering hidden truths about themselves.
Review:
Surprisingly, I hadn’t gone to the movie theater in over three years! Originally, I was going to go see the new Batman movie that just came out but, I ended up seeing Uncharted with my friend and was pleasantly surprised! Normally this isn’t the type of movie that I would naturally gravitate towards but I really enjoyed it in the end. I think it had some great comedy as the jokes consistently landed and had some really great action scenes; however, I have a few critiques.
This film was adapted from an iconic, adventure video-game called Uncharted. I am not familiar with this game but from what I’ve heard, some fans of the game weren’t too pleased with the casting choice of Tom Holland. Since I don’t have much first-hand knowledge of it, I won’t specifically be touching on this subject. In my opinion, the whole cast delivered some really great performances in this movie! It felt as if they were actual video-game characters because when they had to make a decision, it seemed as if they were considering all the options just like you would in a video-game. They achieved this without it feeling cheesy or forced.
In continuation, while the performances delivered by the whole cast were consistent and believable, I don’t think the script and pacing were very effective. At certain points, it felt like they were trying to be clever but it didn’t come across the way it was supposed to. You sort of picked up on the hints but they didn’t feel significant enough in the moment which is always key, in my opinion. Since what I know about the original game is that it’s a mystery treasure hunt, I wish it would have felt more mysterious while still conveying that sense of fun and excitement that comes along with uncovering hidden treasure.
Aside from some of my critiques with the script itself, I really enjoyed how it wasn’t superficial and also delved into some of the character’s traumas and hardships which lead them to take the decisions they do. I would love to see a sequel to this film as it would be intriguing to find out more about Sully’s past and Nathan’s situation with his brother, Sam (Rudy Pankow); and I always like to meet more villains in adventure movies!
This film lightly touches on the superficiality that comes with uncovering treasure. You can use it to your own advantage or be generous with your findings. It also talks about how money can’t buy happiness; Nathan Drake, learned that in this movie as he was willing to risk it all just to know what happened to his brother.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys an adventure movie with lots of comedy! It does have an MPAA rating of PG-13 so it has some swearing, but that’s about it. I think this movie has some really great moments and a cool storyline with interesting characters. It also had some really impressive and edge-of-your-seat action sequences which is always fun! It was for sure a good movie to return to the theater to!
Rating: ☆☆☆1/2 out of 5
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