Language: English
The first thing you should know about Ruben Fleischer’s Uncharted, the big-screen adaptation of the hugely popular action-adventure video game franchise, is the fact that it is not path-breaking.
It is also not as cinematic as its source material. Once that is clear and the pressure on the film to be perfect is off, it becomes easier to see Uncharted for what it is: a harmless action movie that does its job.
That is not saying much given that the movie adaptation linger in development for 14 years. It is not completely unreasonable then, to expect a movie to have taken the time to arrive at what makes a truly great action thriller. And 14 years later, if the movie adaptation cannot end up being as satisfying as the video series it is based on, how can it really justify its existence?
Fleischer, who previously directed Venom, does not seem to have taken these questions into consideration while adapting Uncharted. Instead, he has centered his job around figuring out what it is exactly that people like about the video game series, and then delivering a movie that comes close to replicating all the fuss. Except the strain shows, especially in the moments when Uncharted betrays a disinterest in being anything other than its own thing.
The video games revolve around Nathan Hunt, a globe-trotting professional treasure hunter who embarks on dangerous quests around the world in search of priceless treasures and his long-lost brother. The movie deviates from the series, and sticks to the template of an origin story, drawing from several threads from the Uncharted games to envision Nathan as a younger, inexperienced yet playful iteration of the hero.
Tom Holland, the man of endless charm and grit, slips into the role of Nathan Hunt with an admirable ease.
The movie adaptation focuses on Nathan’s loneliness, as a result of his troubled past, and his inherent longing to belong. He is soon shown to be sucked into the jet-setting lifestyle after a meeting with cocky conman and treasure hunter Victor “Sully” Sullivan [Mark Wahlberg]. On his part, Sully utilises the fact that he shares similarities with Nathan’s long-lost brother to recruit him for the job and earn his trust.
Like any director, Fleischer takes it upon himself to design Uncharted as a buddy adventure drama simply because Holland and Wahlberg share the same frame. It is not that the two actors do not have chemistry, just that watching the two inhabit comedic scenes with their banter feels devoid of any fun. There is also another thing: Uncharted relies too much on their camaraderie when it does not entirely seem to make a case for why it should be the film’s beating heart.
On his part, Wahlberg does not take to his role with as much enthusiasm as Holland. His Sully is neither crafty nor fascinating, sticking out as a sore thumb in front of Holland deftly deploying the extent of his boyish charm to make the film more watchable. Even Nathan is a bit of an unfocused presence — the movie de-aging him works to an extent. But for most of the proceedings, he remains stuck between being portrayed as an overgrown kid and an underdog hero.
In that sense, the crucial letdown of the film is the fact that it has not spent any time on developing its own personality, instead borrowing heavily from the visual language of action franchises like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Much of it plays out very mechanically, as if it is a video game and not a movie that involves real people and an opportunity to plumb into the depths of what truly makes them human. The trouble then is that it becomes difficult to realise what exactly Uncharted would be if one were to take out all the adventure from it.
You cannot fault Fleischer for not trying and the action set-pieces in the film are proof. Uncharted begins with a wonderful cold-open that ends up being better than anything else the plot attempts over the next two hours. The elaborate set-pieces have a likeable energy to them, which makes up for the fact that they are not particularly inventive. They are still impressive, whether it is a breathless parkour chase set in Barcelona or the absurdly fun final battle that unfolds in the clouds above the Philippines.
If the film feels like a wasted opportunity, it is owing to the incoherence of its existence. Fleischer’s direction, for instance, is generic enough to be anonymous. It does not help that Uncharted wears its blandness on its sleeve: the dialogue is not particularly illuminating, and the staging follows convention.
Still, the makers display confidence in their material, ending Uncharted with the kind of cliffhanger that promises a sequel. At this point, that might be the only silver lining — maybe it will not be this hard to extract some flavour and fun out of a wild adventure the second time around.
Uncharted is playing in cinemas.
Rating: ***
Poulomi Das is a film and culture writer, critic, and programmer. Follow more of her writing on Twitter.
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