I am not really a gamer. I have never played a single one of the many Uncharted games. The only thing I know about Nathan Drake is he is the lead character from the game, and the only reason I know that is because, for the last couple years over on Gabbing Geek’s annual “year of anticipation” post, we’ve listed this movie a couple times, and every time I do, my pal over there Jimmy Impossible says actor Tom Holland is a terrible choice to play Nathan Drake. That actually seems to be a consensus. People like Holland, but those familiar with the game don’t really see him as Nathan Drake material.
Then again, if one of the opening production logos is anything to go by, he may be the first in a Playstation Cinematic Universe sort of thing. I needed a break from paper grading anyway, but this can’t be any worse than a Mortal Kombat movie, right?
After a brief scene showing how young Nathan Drake was separated from his big brother Sam (Rudy Pankow) when the two broke into a museum to steal one of Magellan’s maps and got caught, the movie cuts to the present where Nathan (Holland) is now a bartender/small time thief. He’s approached by Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) about finding Magellan’s lost treasure, something Sully was doing with Nathan’s brother Sam before Sam, well, disappeared. Nathan hasn’t heard from Ben in years and may be interested in going in order to find Sam or testing himself or just finding the treasure. Honestly, the movie isn’t very clear why Nathan wants to go at times, but there are a lot of other people who want the billions of dollars in lost gold that were on those ships, most notably Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), the latest in a long line of financiers who originally funded Magellan and who may or may not be the rightful owner of that treasure depending on whom you ask. Moncado has a ruthless mercenary of Sully’s acquaintance, Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), working for him, and there’s always one Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) who may or may not be there to help others or herself. Everyone seems to want that treasure, but Nathan may be the only one who isn’t there just to get rich.
Or he is. Like I said, his motivation isn’t always that clear.
Now, as someone who has never played one of these games, I have to say that I somehow suspected there were numerous moments in the movie that were meant as shout-outs to the game, including one odd cameo, but they didn’t mean anything to me. As a result, a movie like this is something I am either going to enjoy or I don’t. I am not a big Uncharted game fan. In fact, the handful of times I buy a game system, they don’t get a lot of use, reminding me why I don’t do that very often. So, did this movie work for me?
Well, mostly. It’s a pleasant enough diversion, even with a few funny lines here and there. Holland is a charming screen presence, and he and Walhberg even play off each other well. Sure, Banderas is a rather token bad guy, but the movie even throws a curveball on him partway through. Nathan Drake seems to do a lot of jumping and flipping around, perhaps to remind the viewer of Holland’s best-known role, and the climactic action scene may be one of the more creative set pieces for such a scene that I have seen in quite some time.
And yet, the movie never seems to rise above the level of harmless diversion. I don’t really expect much from video game adaptations as it is, and while I wouldn’t say there was anything really wrong with this movie, there was likewise not much to really grab me. It’s fine, but nothing that hit me as an all-time great. I would imagine fans of heist movies, especially some of the more unusual ones like the Now You See Me franchise, will dig this more than I did. It’s fine, kinda dumb, but not something anyone should rush out to see.
Grade: C+
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