Uncharted

After numerous attempts which saw talent attached only to depart before filming began, “Uncharted” has finally arrived on the big screen. The movie is based on the hit Playstation series of games by Naughty Dog and stars Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, a young man who is as adept at history as he is with pickpocketing which he uses to offset his income from Bartending. Nathan’s brother fled the law years earlier and aside from Postcards has had no contact with him over the years.  Things change when Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) arrives and recruits Nathan by showing him that he used to work with his brother. Despite misgivings and unresolved feelings; Nathan joins with Victor and finds himself in a daring caper to steal a valuable object that could unlock the key to a gold supply that has been lost for over five hundred years. Naturally, there are others who want the money, and Nathan, Victory, and their dubious partner Chloe (Sophia Ali); as they rush around the world in one adventure after another to solve the ancient puzzles and stay one step ahead of some very deadly individuals. The movie has elements of “National Treasure” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in terms of the quests to find ancient treasures mixed with action but keeps things in a simpler context. The focus is not on plot development, character development, or plausibility but considering the film is based on a video game, it does a good job with the source material. There has been some controversy about the casting of Holland as Nathan is older in the game series, but he goes all-in with his performance even when the acrobatic action sequences does offer many reminders of his Spider-man role. The action in the game is fun and over-the-top and more than once I thought I should be pushing my X and Square button to help him make the moves necessary to complete the task and survive. The post-credit scenes offer some great possibilities for future adventures and those would be more than welcome for those looking for some no-brainer escapist entertainment. 3.5 stars out of 5.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/uncharted-spoiler-free-review "Uncharted is an action-adventure flick, but despite a more entertaining last act, it fails to break the curse of videogame film adaptations due precisely to the lack of said action and adventure. Even though Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg offer good performances, as well as convincing arcs by the two protagonists, Ruben Fleischer delivers an extremely generic and formulaic narrative based on endless exposition. Additionally, the secondary characters become irrelevant due to the irritatingly repetitive betrayals and constant shifts of the true antagonist. In the end, the general feeling is that it would be much more interesting to be controlling the characters than simply watching them. It may be enough for fans of the franchise, but for the average moviegoer, it's "just one more"." Rating: C-