Uncharted

Ruben Fleischer deliver an adaptation of the famous video game “Uncharted”, and although it doesn't break the curse of movies based on games, it is a likeable and entertaining adventure, the kind that is missing in cinemas, and certainly doesn't disgrace the game. I'm a big fan of the director, I love Gangster Squad, Zombieland and Venom, and Uncharted can easily stand alongside them. Tom Holland is great and comes off as a big personality, and he is well supported by Mark Wahlberg, who is an entertaining part of the whole film. The female characters don't stick out that much and the female protagonist is a bit bland, but I can get past that. The film has likeable visuals, solid pacing, fun characters, an engaging story and solid action, though there are only two proper set-pieces, but the finale is long, imaginative and epic enough (the reference to Pirates of the Caribbean was great), and a couple of Easter eggs to play with as well. It's quite comparable to the recent Tomb Raider adaptation and for me definitely better than the recent adventure movies with The Rock. I had a decent time and it's great to be back at the cinema after a long time! Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humour 3/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 7.5/10. (13/02/2022)

The upside of a fast food movie like this for me, as a film collector, is that I save money. There really isn't the slightest reason to invest a single koruna in the Blu-ray of this; and its the same with most movie productions these days. I’ve never liked fast food, I prefer a hearty steak and this thing is like garlic bread. A tedious 120 minutes and the reassurance that the best film adaptation of a PC game is still the 27-year-old Mortal Kombat. (28/04/2022)

So it looks like we'll have to wait for another really good movie based on a game, because Uncharted didn't succeed as much as fans of the source material would have liked. And probably not even adventure movie fans. Making it a prequel turned out to be a smart move, the makers can tell their own story and just reference the game; sometimes a lot, sometimes a little, sometimes totally, and make a good adventure movie first and foremost. But it’s not much of one. The main problem is that it all drags quite a bit, there’s little action, and at some points what happens on screen is almost embarrassing. All the attempts at Indiana Jones-like wandering through corridors, avoiding traps and solving puzzles looks so cheesy that I was reminded of the 1990s series Relic Hunter. The chemistry between Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg is also pretty dour, and that's mostly because Wahlberg is playing more of a scumbag than a likeable bastard, and Holland tries his best, but the flat and predictable script doesn't give him much of a chance to make Nathan Drake a real likeable guy to root for. Fortunately, Uncharted climbs from below average as the runtime progresses, and the finale on the boats is already a lot of good action fun. And it was because of it that I left the cinema feeling actually satisfied. Unfortunately, as soon as I started thinking about the rest of it, the enthusiasm went way down again. A good finish is important, but Uncharted has so many unfinished or uninteresting elements that it makes up for an average adventure at best. (09/02/2022)

Adapting a video game series into a grand, adventurous, action-packed movie that looks more magnificent, adventurous, and action-packed than any of its competitors, is a challenging and seemingly unnecessary task. And yet despite endless pre-production delays, changes in the director chair, and an incredible paradox where the actor originally planned for Nathan ended up in the role of Sully, Uncharted is a success. The creators do not need to reinvent the wheel, they allow the main hero to jump, run, and fall as befits the famous franchise, and above all, they remember that most viewers have played the game and will want to experience something familiar. The traditional flaw of game adaptations is possibly eradicated definitively, and the main visual attractions directly quote the third installment or even exaggerate the conclusion of the fourth one. However, what relieved me the most was the interaction between the main duo. Tom Holland is likable and, as a younger Drake, he can fully embrace the traditional acting role, but Mark Wahlberg, as Sullivan, I was dreading for some time only for him to ultimately steal the show. He perfectly captured the essence of the grumbling mentor with a nose for money. (19/05/2023)

Like… Like a lot of yawning more than anything else. It has no pace, no drive, no charisma (and it's not just the Holland/Wahlberg dynamic that doesn't work) and the blatant digitality makes it reprehensibly lifeless. As a result, it is neither a good adventure movie nor a good representative of movies based on video games, but rather a modern Hudson Hawk. Tomb Raider with Alicia fared significantly better in these respects. Better to watch the "Uncharted 4 all/best cutscenes 4k PS5" on YouTube, it's the same thing, just much more polished, better paced despite the longer runtime, with working emotions, better acted and written (especially the dialogues!), better directed (not to mention the set design) and paradoxically less digital. (27/04/2022)