Entertains When Tension is Dealt Through Fast-Paced Action (Uncharted)

Based on the hit video game of the same name, Uncharted revitalizes the adventure/treasure hunting genre to its former glory. Favoring the themes that were popularized through the Indiana Jones franchise and National Treasure movies while also taking a few cues from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, made this popcorn flick considerably more enjoyable. Ruben Fleischer, director of Venom and the Zombieland duology, uses his capability to never please critics but only moviegoers when making this PlayStation favorite into an entertaining adaptation.   

Starring Tom Holland as a Nathan Drake, the film deems itself as the origin story of the infamous treasure hunter where he meets Sully and uncovers the very first clues towards finding his long-lost brother. To find the lost ship of Ferdinand Magellan, the unlikely pair comes across obstacles, clues, and puzzles that take them to the hidden place that holds the treasure. 

Holland is only three months shy from his success in Spider-Man No Way Home. With Sony considering this as a potential hit, the actor's hiatus from blockbuster projects may not last as long as he intends. We all know his acting range is far from mediocre but it's easy to detect that Holland is suffering from his American accent, ironic since he struggled to gain back his accent of origin a few years back. However, there's no doubt that he is THE action star of our time, gaining the kind of fame that made Brad Pitt or Channing Tatum household names (these two came to mind only due to the trailer for the Sandra Bullock-led 'The Lost City' playing before the movie) 

It's hard to swallow any emotional weight within the narrative of Nathan Drake and his long-lost brother with the amount of hard-hitting PG action scenes, but there's no point in watching Uncharted for the sake of well-rounded character developments. However, setting up instances for future installments was a smart move for the sake of Nathan's journey towards being the experienced adventurer fans know and love even if the possibility of Sony not moving forward with making a sequel let alone a franchise is still up in the air. 

Another disappointing point within the characters is the short-lived villains (SPOILER ALERT!). To build a franchise, it is fun to set up the return of a villain but they'd have to do it in a way that doesn't ruin these individual arcs the way the Fast & Furious franchise has done with their villains. The closest thing to a real villain in the movie might actually have been Sully's greed towards reaching the end of the rainbow and gaining his pot 'o gold, betraying anyone who gets in his way. Unfortunately as someone who hasn't played the games, I would have preferred to keep a characteristic like this to set up a proper villain's arc. But then again, it could go both ways and he completely tries to break his ways. I hope they don't skip to where he's so well-adjusted that his double-crossing ways are completely forgotten in a potential sequel. 

What weirded me out was that the film was trying to portray Tati Gabrielle's character and Mark Wahlberg's character was romantically involved in the past, considering since the actress is in her late 20s and Wahlberg is possibly her father's age. Nobody has a problem with this in certain movies but this is something that should be avoided with any narrative (excluding storylines or subplots that focuses on age-gapped relationship). 

Should you be watching Uncharted? Yes. Should you be consuming a second viewing? That depends on you. Watching it the second time allowed me to point out more flaws but once you get past the introductions, the movie is still fun. From Holland's jaw-dropping stunts to its ability to get audiences laughing, Uncharted entertains only when tension is dealt with through fast-paced action. Flaws and all, it should be watched on the big screen nonetheless.