God knows how many tears were shed by geeks after the release of the next film adaptation of the cult video game, but Ancharted fans spent just as much on the nerves of the premiere on the eve of the premiere. Adaptation has been developed since the late 00s, but unsuccessfully. So much so that Mark Wahlberg, who was originally supposed to play Nathan Drake, managed to grow old and get the role of Victor Sullivan’s overage protégé (the actor does not yet have a characteristic mustache, but if the sequel does take place, then this is a matter of time). Ruben Fleischer from a provocative zombie action director turned into a Venom director, and the game itself moved from the shelf of the best-selling new products to a box with an ageless, but no longer the most relevant classic. It’s not even about some internal mechanics of Ancharted, but rather about the aesthetics of adventure action films a la Indiana Jones, which have given way to post-apocalyptic (“The Last of Us” from the same developers) or sci-fi.
And now the adaptation of “Uncharted” still gets to the big screens. Battered partly by time, and partly by studio bosses who held the film back until a better moment, the tape looks like an outsider even against the backdrop of Emmerich’s charmingly deranged Moonfall. This is also a treasure from the obsolete era of the 00s and early 10s, only everyone was waiting for it with undisguised caustic irony: failure cannot be avoided, but at least it will be possible to laugh at stupidity. Sally (Mark Wahlberg) and Drake (Tom Holland) go on a search for Magellan’s treasure while trying to outrun the villainous Moncada (Antonio Banderas). Secret passages in temples, ancient ships, traps and falls from a bird’s eye view – I want to talk about the plot, describing the action and vivid details, rather than scenario turns.
However, was Ancharted itself once the standard of writing? Within the genre and context – of course, but after all, the original adventures of Sally and Drake fell in love not for imitating “Indiana Jones” (more precisely, not only for him). Naughty Dog has fulfilled the desire of every adventure movie teen to be a part of the incredible action – an adorable treasure hunter with a stylish holster and sharp tongue. Fleischer’s Uncharted, oddly enough, successfully captures the spirit of the original. Here, even many scenes (falling from a cargo plane, solving mysteries in Spanish temples) migrated directly from the video game, and those that the scriptwriters themselves came up with look quite in the style of the original source.
The final – and craziest – episode here is completely original: the villains lift two giant ships into the air with the help of helicopters, so that the next 20 minutes the heroes will fight on flying ships – step aside, Pirates of the Caribbean. In the game, this scene would have felt completely different, without the proper scale, bewitching general plans, and even more proportionate suspense: if Drake falls, alas, it will not work from the same place. Actually, the whole denouement of “Uncharted” justifies the existence of this movie – devoid of a sense of proportion, spectacular and hilarious so much that for once you want not to be in the place of the characters, but simply to watch their adventures from the side.
“Uncharted” can hardly be called a conventional film adaptation of a video game: there is too little fan service, too many jokes that change the rules of the game on the go. Mark Wahlberg (the movie’s best) peeks out of hiding like a jack-in-the-box during all the action scenes. Antonio Banderas, it seems, without changing his costume from the shooting of a perfume advertisement, casually wandered into the Ancharteda site. Everything here is ridiculous, but amazingly alive: either Fleischer remembered his best years, or just covid taught us to appreciate studio cinema, in which there is some spark of extravagance.
And even the casting of Holland, at first frightening with its marketing accuracy and lack of character, turns out to be justified. He really isn’t a Drake – at least not at first. The new “Uncharted” does a clever trick and turns the typical idealist who wants to fix the world (Spider-Man: No Way Home) into a real scoundrel, thief and adventurer. Hollywood cinema has taught us that we must strive for the highest ideals. The Fleischer film, of course, agrees, but inserts one “but”: the main thing is to keep your eyes open, watch your partners and be prepared for the fact that everyone will sell you for a piece of gold.
I had high hopes for this picture. Of course, I knew the movie was going to be a passing popcorn action ride, steeped in the spirit of the game. I knew what would happen roughly, how everything would look, what would change in the characters. And I went to the cinema in the first place to remember the coolest scenes from the game, to see great action, even though all the battle scenes were drawn on a computer. Actually, I WANTED to see in the picture small violations of the laws of physics and drawn action scenes, because in my opinion it suits this film more. Along with this, I wanted to see almost completely copied scenes from the game, and in general I was satisfied, although some points were changed too much.
I want to say that I was a little disappointed with the plane scene. At first it is shown just perfectly: a very cool moment with how Nate jumps on the boxes into the plane, and then just as cool and funny falls out of the plane. And now he flies down, somersaults, does not understand anything. It remains only to hope for a miracle, being in free fall. But then they show how he gets saved, and honestly, it looks like everything is actually very simple and obvious, and like Nate is just accidentally saved by everyone, and he does practically nothing. Well, with the violation of the laws of physics, they went a little too far. Don’t get me wrong, the scene is very cool, but it could have been better to convey that state of the hero from the game, that lostness and that accidental rescue.
The puzzles are quite interesting. Some are too simple, but overall they are fascinating. I liked the humor, it is similar to the humor from the games. The plot is mostly obvious, but there were a couple of unexpected moments. The action is really top notch.
Separately, I want to talk about the actors. Many say that this is a misscast, that Tom Holland is definitely not Drake, and Mark Wahlberg is definitely not Sally. And I don’t understand these people at all. I love Tom Holland and I know that he is a good actor who can play more than just Spiderman. I don’t see at all what other actor could have been cast for the role of 25 year old Nate. I really liked Holland in this film, he looks really great in this role. Well, Mark Wahlberg just looks good. I can’t say that he definitely hit his character, but Sullivan can be seen in him.
The result is a really good, watchable attraction. As a fan of the ‘Uncharted’ series of games, I can say that in general the film left a positive impression and did not spoil anything. For the sake of spectacular action, you can safely go to the cinema. If the film performs well and it has a chance to continue, I will only be happy.
I want to tell you right away that I am not a fan of the computer game of the same name. Once I saw with one eye how my friend played it, but I myself am not familiar with it. Therefore, my thoughts and value judgments are based purely on the impressions of watching the tape as an adventure movie. I am sure that fans of the game themselves are able to adequately evaluate the picture from the point of view of the universe familiar to them.
Plot. Treasure hunter Victor Sullivan hires trickster Nathan Drake to help him with an interesting, difficult and dangerous case. In addition, Nate has his own interest in the mission: there is a chance to find his missing older brother…
The obvious primitiveness of the storyline in new films of this genre has long become the norm. But the cinema goes further: it collects all possible clichés about treasure hunters, introduces primitive puzzles (which cannot even be called puzzles) and completely kills the intrigue in the bud. There is an ostentatious game of cat and mouse here, but you can’t believe it. Everything happens in a childishly stupid, false and unnatural way. The authors decided to remove common sense, realism and plausible physics from the tape. Judge for yourself: the guards of a super-important artifact can be easily circled around your finger, like small children; the police simply do not exist in this world; the tricks in the air are like a madman’s dream… But what amused me most of all was the fact that people can talk to each other without difficulty during free fall. It’s good that at least they don’t drink tea with cookies. I recently recalled my first parachute jump. So, it was hard for me to even breathe during it … The dilapidation of the ships deserves special mention, which changes depending on the prescribed scenario moments. The ending generally spits on all the laws of physics and banal logic, but by the time of the final it is still difficult to adequately perceive the reality set by the creators.
Atmosphere. In adventure films, the atmosphere is almost the key parameter. It is created by a variety of factors that should work in harmony, as a single mechanism. There are big problems with this. Camera work is good only in using the overview camera. When it comes to fights, it becomes almost impossible to keep track of the details, and the eyes start to hurt from the endless flickering. Some fight scenes are reminiscent of the best Jackie Chan movies, where everything that came to hand was used during the showdown. But the very staging of battles is very similar to the recent ‘Matrix’ in the worst sense of this comparison. Among all the actors, only Tom Holland (Nathan Drake) looks normal, who gives out at least some emotions. Mark Wahlberg (Victor Sullivan) plays Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Taylor Ali (Chloe) can’t develop her character properly, and Antonio Banderas (Santiago Moncada) can soon be trusted to play plastic mannequins. The humor looks good in places, but the jokes that repeat after a while frankly get bored. The poor nuns have been mentioned countless times, and key scenes are sometimes built on the features of Nate’s lighter. How did the pictures of the adventure genre become smaller …
Music. The average music selection is unlikely to be memorable, but at least it’s not annoying. If you do not find fault with much, then you can find melodies of quite acceptable quality.
Outcome. I left the cinema feeling frustrated. Perhaps at some point the bar for this kind of tapes dropped significantly, and the average viewer accepted such a strange innovation. I refuse to accept ‘Uncharted’ as a good picture. Many will probably say: ‘Rethink! Before you after all just an entertaining movie!’. Yes, but even there are certain basic requirements for it, which the authors for some reason decided not to fulfill.
3 out of 10
(33%), for fans there is the following information: the first additional scene will be waiting for you at the beginning of the credits, the second – in the middle.