Certification. 12A
Running Time. 1 hour 56 mins
Director. Ruben Fleischer
Cast. Sophia Ali, Antonio Banderas, Tati Gabrielle, Tom Holland, Steven Waddington, Mark Wahlberg.
Rating. 40%
Based on the ground-breaking third-person adventure game franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog, Uncharted sees Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg bring the characters of Nathan Drake (Nate) and Victor Sullivan (Sully) to life on the big screen.
The success of the series was based on intense action, with the lead characters searching every corner of the globe for priceless artefacts and treasures. Uncharted was one of the most cinematic games ever, with production values that rivalled many big-budget blockbusters. In many ways, the games felt like adventure films you could play, and so any Uncharted film that entered the arena had, in some ways, a sense of redundancy in-built.
Sadly the film, directed by Ruben Fleischer, is not on par with the groundbreaking spectacle of the source material. From a lineage that includes the likes of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Tomb Raider, National Treasure, The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn, and Tomb Raider, again, Uncharted is a lightweight addition to the genre. Bland, flavourless and without any genuine substance. None of the elaborate, and often outright absurd, action sequences are particularly innovative or inventive, and many are overly reliant on CGI. The more impressive elements are the freerunning and parkour manoeuvres.
As in many of the storylines within the franchise, the relationship between Nathan and Sully is at the heart of the narrative. Nathan is never quite certain who to trust, or if he can trust anyone at all. The dialogue between the two main characters is particularly punchy.
Tom Holland as Nathan Drake is well cast and undoubtedly the major plus of Uncharted. In many ways, Holland's natural charm carries the film and he will no doubt introduce the franchise to a younger audience. Others fare less well. Mark Wahlberg's character is less developed and Antonio Banderas' villain, Santiago Moncada is an irrelevance, as demonstrated by his fleeting demise. Perhaps worst of all, is Tati Gabrielle as Jo Braddock. A mercenary who appears to be as unscrupulous as she is incompetent, and whose only character motivation seems to be to obstruct Sully at every opportunity.
Uncharted feels set up for a sequel, but at the time of this review, no details of a subsequent film have been announced.
Comments
Post a Comment