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Uncharted is toothless. Despite its decent tools, the film never stands out. Globetrotting treasure hunts are exciting, the core cast is intriguing, and the budget was clearly decent. However, Uncharted lacks creative thought, so it's fundamentally average. First, the script is bare. The story is shallow, the characters are flat, and the surprises are underwhelming. Frequently, choices are contrived plot devices rather than authentic developments. Motivations are weak and character arcs are flimsy. Plus, the chemistry between Holland and Wahlberg is awkward. Holland is charming and Wahlberg likes his counterpart, but their styles of banter don't gel.
Meanwhile, the filmmaking of Uncharted is too sterile for a rugged adventure. The effects are extensive but CGI heavy, defusing tension and engagement. Furthermore, the violence is excessively clean. Deaths are only implied and blood is minimal, contradicting the film's promise of excitement. This also applies to the production design, which is elaborate yet too polished to feel like a true journey. Beyond that, Uncharted is basic. The music, editing, sound, and cinematography are all competent but plain. The film just isn't elevated by its technicals. Overall, Uncharted isn't painfully bad but also doesn't have noticeable strengths, making it squarely mediocre.
Writing: 3/10
Direction: 4/10
Cinematography: 5/10
Acting: 6/10
Editing: 5/10
Sound: 6/10
Score/Soundtrack: 5/10
Production Design: 5/10
Casting: 8/10
Effects: 6/10
Overall Score: 5.3/10
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I got out and saw Uncharted, which I was supposed to see earlier but it was canceled due to snow. I was also pleasantly surprised by Uncharted. I have to say here at the start, god bless the Director that knows what the fans want. Tom’s ass looks great in almost every scene of this movie. Sorry, just had to say what we were all thinking. Anyway, Tom Holland is pretty good here. I was shocked how much I ended up liking his Nathan, granted, I’ve never played even a second of this game series. But I’ve seen enough gameplay to get a lot of the Easter eggs here. I’m not a big fan of Mark Walhberg and I don’t think I will be no matter how they package him. He’s okay here, I just can’t really get excited for him. He just brings nothing new to the table whatsoever. Antonio Banderas is one of the most basic and boring villains I’ve seen in quite some time. Sophia Ali is your essential femme fatale who does a good job playing a very basic character. I really like Tati Gabrielle but this wasn’t it for her, I like her character and her acting but she’s almost an even more basic villain than Banderas’s. I’m shocked how much of this movie Sony showed off in the ad campaign, one of the prominent scenes of the trailers is the damn post credit scene. There are two of them, nothing at the very very end though. IMAX is never bad but I feel like they never used the format to their advantage. There are some gorgeous locations on display here and they just look meh. Despite being a basic history based treasure hunt, I’m a massive sucker for a history based treasure hunt. We don’t get enough of them any more and this one has some pretty solid history on display. I think Uncharted is definitely worth a trip to the theatre, IMAX is totally up to you, not necessary here. This has potential to grow into a great movie franchise if Sony plays their cards right (which isn’t likely based on their Spider-Verse). I’m also giving Uncharted a 7/10, it’s a fun jaunt through the basics of the genre with a nice Tom Holland bow on top, his Drake is basically just Peter Parker that cursed and occasionally killed people. -Tyler.
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2022
12A
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, Steven Waddington, Tiernan Jones, Rudy Pankow, etc.
Street smart Nathan Drake is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan, and lost 500 years ago by the house of Moncada. This film was pretty solid and one of the stronger game to film adaptations, which isn't saying much as it was still disappointing.
The cinematography and set design was great, capturing the lore and grand scale of the games. The game references were really strong and well crafted. The action was great and very entertaining. With brilliant performances from Sophia Ali and particularly Tom Holland who did a great job here and made the character of Nathan Drake his own. Plus, Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg had fantastic chemistry with each other, capturing the same chemistry as Nate and Sully in the games. The humour was good, with a lot of fun scenes were it bought the sense of adventure and fun of the games out really well. The characters were very likeable, with some good plot development. Some fun plot twists and an entertaining final act that ended the film on a high note.
However, there was a lack of character background between Nate and his brother so therefore the emotional connection with their relationship just wasn't there for me. The set up felt very rushed and I would have liked to have seen a more established storyworld and more of Nate by himself. It was generic, taking inspirations from multiple films in the genre. The villains were very weak. They were just bland, thinly written and lacked any real threat. I think Mark Wahlberg, despite trying his best was definitely miscast as Sully. The mystery involving Drake's brother felt underdeveloped. The structure of the film got messy towards the second half, and the CGI wasn't great in parts.
So overall, Uncharted adds nothing new to the genre, and suffers from a weak script and some bad creative decisions. But offers enough entertainment and fun to be a good diversion, proving to be one of the stronger game to movie adaptations. Plus the chemistry between the leads is strong for this to be something that you should give it a watch, and I am invested enough to want a sequel.
Overall score 64/100.
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Uncharted is the one of the newer films trying to succeed in the category of video game movies and stumbles just like almost all the others. From questionable casting and pacing to dodgy vfx and adaptation, this movie offers and shows too much for a single outing.
To clear things up, as someone who has not played these games, my experience and opinion varies from that of a fan. Although, I did watch it with a friend who so happens to be a fan and he was upset with almost all of the movie from the start. Adapting set pieces from all the games, without following their storyline or even keeping it true to the source material is what brought it down heavily.
It seems that Tom Holland is becoming Sony’s favorite actor, with him playing Spider-Man and now Uncharted, now get him to do Kratos from God of War (please don’t). Not going to lie, Tom has certain charisma that makes him joy to watch on the screen and that elevated everything bad that was being shown.
Visual effects were inconsistent at best and for so many delays with having this much time to make it as good as it possibly can, seeing the final result is disheartening. After seeing the character Tom is supposed to be based on, add about 15 years and a different actor and we may have someone who is closer to the original. Mark Wahlberg does what he does best and that is playing Mark Wahlberg, serviceable performance from a serviceable actor.
A typical action movie with fast paced action, explosive set pieces and many more staples of the action movie genre, if the movie was just that and nothing more, it would be actually above average. However, the video game part of it was what placed it under average for me. The video game movie curse is still going strong, and while some have actually been able to break it and even succeed, the percentage of those who fail is still above 80%.
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