For better or worse, this adaption exists.
Uncharted is my fourth favorite game series of all time. I knew from the trailers that the marketing/branding dubbing this a “prequel” or “origin to the games” was a straight-up lie. The first 2 minutes confirmed that. But I’m so glad it did.
This is one of the better video game adaptions. It focuses on story, doesn’t lose sight of motivations, and has a fun vibe the entire time without getting lost in exposition. I have some nitpicks as a game fan. Recreating action scenes is great. But I was hoping for more climbing outright (even if it was there). And then when Nate finally gets a gun at this big moment…he fires literally two bullets. That’s it. I get it’s an origin and he sucks at everything now. But hardly any shooting and no attempt to replicate the game style was disappointing.
Holland is good as Nate, but he still has a boyish quality to him I have a tough time shaking. I forgot about it as it went on though. His character is fleshed out, believable, relatable, and charming. Wahlberg actually physically resembles Drake more (ironic since he was once cast as him) but plays Sully with more depth than I expected. He doesn’t feel like Sully at all and is the one point I’m not entirely convinced on. But by the end, I liked them as a duo. The chemistry is evident in the banter, which mostly lands. I miss more of the fast quippy humor from the games. There’s room for improvement there but I’m mildly impressed.
Chloe was great, the action was fine, the villain wasted on shock value and it’s a little weird seeing most of the plot of UC4 so early. There are some set pieces from the games that are you know, not as good as the games, no matter how cool they are to see realized in live-action. When the film creates entirely new action sequences, it’s all the better for it. That final “boat sailing” is the biggest example I can think of.
It could have been a lot worse. I had a fun time, was pleasantly surprised, and am pumped for how the end sets up a sequel. Glad to see my wife enjoyed it, and that it did modestly well. I’ll be curious to see if they adapt the original game, or if it’ll remix a couple of them into a more focused story. Regardless, it’s just nice to have adventure films on the big screen again.
4 out of 5 stars
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