Alright, so for those of you who read my review for Fiddler On The Roof, which was of course my 500th movie review, I hope you all enjoyed that review of mine. I must say that I really enjoyed rewatching Fiddler On The Roof again, and making it one of my milestone reviews. Still, the show must now continue on. Today, we are going to be reviewing a film that has been based on a popular video game series. In this case, this particular video game series is part of the PlayStation console. But of course we won’t talk about the video game. It will be the movie that’s based off of the video game. So yeah, let’s talk about the movie, Uncharted.
Plot: When two fortune hunters named Nathan Drake (Tom Holland), and Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) hear about a treasure map that could lead them to treasure that was left behind by an expedition that was led by Ferdinand Magellan centuries before, they make it their mission to set out, and find it. Will this adventure be real, or will it be for nothing in the end?
Alright, first off, I don’t recall ever playing these games for PlayStation. Since I’m not that familiar with the game series as a result, you will not hear me making comparisons between this, and the game. With that said, let’s talk about the good things in this film. First off, some of the stunts are really cool, particularly when our heroes get in fights, or even have to go on chases in an attempt to bring certain villains to justice. Another benefit for this film is that if you were one of those who had seen this film, or at least had seen trailers for it, and you had never played, or even heard of the Uncharted video games, you might not be upset about that. Truthfully, this film is very enjoyable, in part, because this film is easily distinguishable in terms of how one couldn’t tell if this was based on a video game, or even a novel. I mean this film almost feels like an Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Pirates Of The Caribbean, or even National Treasure type of movie than say Prince Of Persia. Oh, don’t get me wrong! Movies, like Prince Of Persia, or many other films in the past that were based off of video games have still been good. In fact, I would still not mind revisiting them from time to time. Still, my point is that Uncharted, somehow doesn’t seem to feel like a movie that’s based off of a video game. Is that a good thing, or bad thing? More than likely, it’s a good thing. But I would be curious to hear other people’s opinions in that regards. Anyway, Tom Holland, and Mark Wahlberg work well off of each other. Not only do they help serve as proof as to what helps make a great action film, but they also provide some very comedic lines in the process. Additionally, it’s really cool to have characters that grow, and also learn some important skills, like how to be wise in terms of who they should trust, or not trust, making plans of how to chart certain courses, and other things along those lines. Oh, and it’s also great that this film can do a great job, at times in this film, of teaching the audience when to make the right decisions, be it either dangerous, or non-dangerous situations. Finally, as far as the pros of this film go, there are the villains. Wow, they are really cool to watch onscreen. First off, can we talk about how interesting it is for Antonio to go from being a heroic main character in movies like the Zorro films, to now playing the role of a ruthless mercenary in this Uncharted film? Rather big change, wouldn’t you say? Also, Tati Gabrielle as the main female villain, Jo Braddock, she is so cool to watch onscreen. I may have said in the past that certain female villains in films like the 007 James Bond were hardcore. However, a title like that can probably go to a female villain like Jo Braddock as well. She fights well, and is not one that you want to mess with unless you have to for some reason.
However, Uncharted did end up having a few flaws that kept it from being perfect. To start, the beginning of this movie could have probably been set up differently by making different events occur than what we got in the end. I mean what we got for the beginning was okay. However, had this film gone through one, or two other drafts, the beginning, along with a couple things could have more than likely made this film better. That leads me to the next flaw of this film. While characters Nathan Drake, and Victor Sullivan work well off of each other, and the villains are very good, there are certain other characters whose dynamics don’t seem to work quite nearly as well when it comes to spending time with either the main characters, or even other characters that appear over the course of this film. Finally, there was the ending. Again, like with the beginning, the ending wasn’t necessarily bad. Still, the ending could have maybe continued for maybe an additional 5-10 minutes, and either had a little more closure with certain characters, or had some reconciliation that should have occurred before the movie was over. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have something like that if this movie gets a sequel. We shall see.
And that’s my review for Uncharted. It is a very fun action-packed film that would be fun for dating couples to see, or even parents with kids. Yes, this film is rated PG-13. Still, Uncharted doesn’t seem to feel like it’s rated PG-13, at least not as much as many other PG-13 rated films of the past. It has great action, a creative story, and quite a few good characters. Yes, again, this film has flaws. But the things that make it mostly good outweigh those flaws by a long shot. If you want to see a PG-13 rated movie that seems to feel a little more family friendly than other films that have been rated that, as well as a film that doesn’t seem to have the feel of a movie that’s based off of a video game, then definitely give this film a chance. You may yet find yourself pleasantly surprised by it. Still, definitely see it, and let me know what you think!
Final Grade: B+
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 