Uncharted Delivers A Paint-By-Numbers Action-Adventure That's Both Entertaining And Forgettable

       Adapting a popular video game into live-action film format while remaining faithful to the source material is as equally challenging as presenting audiences with a fresh story that isn't heavily reliant on previously established works in order to entertain. In the case of Uncharted, the newest action-adventure starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, struggles to represent it's bestselling video game while feeling like a combination of Indiana Jones and National Treasure merged together. Despite boasting an appealing cast and delivering reasonably mild entertainment, Uncharted can't help but find itself in the shadows of far superior adventure films. 

      Based on the popular video game series of the same name, Uncharted has Treasure hunter Sully recruiting street-smart Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) to help him recover a 500-year-old lost fortune while the latter simultaneously searched for his long-lost brother. It's no question that Uncharted's plot heavily leans on classic globe-trotting adventures like Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider, making it's plot appear to be glaringly formualic. Although it lacks originality, the films solid action set-pieces combined with its appealing cast make Uncharted a Serviceably fun action-adventure ride that's one of the more bearable video game movie adaptations.

      The performances given by Uncharted's cast inject some much needed energy to the film to the films with Holland and Wahlberg making for an interesting duo with their on-screen chemistry helping drive the story. Holland is charismatic in the role of young bartender and fortune hunter Nathan Drake, whose recruited by Sully to find the fabled treasure of the Magellan expedition, along with finding his missing brother Sam. Wahlberg is solid as seasoned fortune hunter Sully, who previously worked with Sam. Wahlberg plays his character as being a mentor type and father figure role to Nathan. Both leads make their quirky bromance entertaining to watch while elevating the material to be somewhat engaging. Sophia Ali impressed as fellow fortune hunter Chloe Frazer, who partners with Sully and Nate to find the treasure while sharing a relationship with the latter. Antonio Banderas chews up the scene as the films antagonist and ruthless treasure hunter Santiago Moncada. Though his character feels like every other generic villain in a treasure hunt themed story, he plays his role to maximum effect while appearing to have a blast in doing so. Other noteworthy performances include Tati Gabrielle stealing the show as mercenary Jo Braddock, who works with Moncada against Nathan and Sully with Rudy Pankow in a brief yet effective role as Nathan's long-lost brother Sam. As a whole, Uncharted's cast proves reliable in elevating the story to the level of being watchable as the stories predictability becomes more glaring.

      Directed by Ruben Fleischer who previously helmed Venom, his work comes across as being standard for the genre despite crafting some well-staged action sequences including one involving Drake both climbing and leaping his way up a series of crates swinging around from the back of a plane, or another sequence involving a helicopter airlifting an old treasure infested pirate ship out of a cave only to reveal a second ship being airlifted out as well. Though the action sequences aren't on the same level as those from a typical Marvel flick, they remain impressive set-pieces that stand out in the film. Boasting stunningly bright cinematography, Fleischer beautifully captures the films exotic locations that drive the adventure aspect of the story. Though Uncharted's score is effective, it's also nothing particularly memorable to write home about. With an 116 minute running time, it keeps things moving at a relatively fast pace while allowing for key moments of character development. While Fleischer does nothing here to reinvent the wheel, he does a fairly decent job of bringing Uncharted's video game world to the big screen while using the films action sequences to maintain the audiences interest in its rather generic story.

      Uncharted's scriptwriting suffers the most with its plot feeling repetitive of previous glory days in the action-adventure genre. The writing lacks innovativeness and creativity with much of its subplots appearing borrowed from other films in the genre, along with the main characters feeling like stereotypical cardboard cutouts from other adventure stories. Both characters of Nathan and Sully are predictable yet work mainly because of the actors performances, as their characters lack true development. Although Nathan's search for his brother Sam is believable, it lacks sufficient development to make audiences invested in their subplot. The relationship between Nathan and Sully never really gets the opportunity to grow throughout the film despite misleading moments and situations promising that their dynamic will evolve yet ultimately never does. Not to mention the partnership/romance between Nathan and Chloe feeling undercooked. Santiago is ultimately wasted in the film despite having a solid character outline as a cunning treasure hunter. Although the script makes attempts at throwing surprise twists at the audience regarding the plot and actual villains, they're ones that come across as feeling completely predictable. One example includes Sully's character being given the choice of keeping a bag of gold or helping save Nathan's character during a moment of crisis. The moment ends with him choosing to help Drake, making it a fitting one for Sully's character yet doesn't hold much emotional weight given that audiences see the twist coming a mile away. Uncharted's writing overall, feels like a combination of incomplete ideas and character situations introduced that could've worked far more effectively had they've been thoroughly fleshed out.

      Given the films intent in representing its video game, it makes attempts at delivering nods to such like the films eye-catching opening with Holland's character dangling off a cargo net strapped to the back of a plane, being lifted straight from the games. The film desperately aims to please those who enjoy the games while delivering a story that pays homage to the Indiana Jones era of adventure films. Even with a strong cast and thrilling action set-pieces, Uncharted's lack of memorability doesn't allow it to be anything much more than just a mildly fun though forgettable adventure.  

Final Verdict: Worth a watch if you're a fan of the PlayStation games. Otherwise, look towards the classic action-adventure films that it draws heavy inspiration from.