Uncharted Review
The future of action movies are in good hands
Quick Thoughts - A big budget smoke and mirror show that sits atop an enjoyable, but ultimately mediocre movie. Amidst all the chaos, Tom Holland gives a lively performance and solidifies his role as the face of action movies for decades to come (if he desires).
What went wrong:
It was overproduced (see final half an hour of the film) - National Treasure is arguably the greatest treasure hunt movie of all and it did so with a small budget and no CGI. Why could it get away with that? Because the story could stand on its own. The big CGI pirate ship being carried by a helicopter in Uncharted isn’t the problem itself, but mainly the coverup to the problem - the story wasn’t super exciting on its own.
The chemistry between Wahlberg and Holland was really awkward at times.
Too many twists - twists are expected to some degree, but throw in too many of them and the audience will start to roll their eyes. Uncharted creeps just past that line.
Plot issues, specifically in the first half an hour. I had never interacted with the Uncharted story prior to seeing the film, so maybe that is why I am in the dark here. Some more backstory being given on the two characters would have been nice before diving immediately into the treasure hunt.
What went right:
In the middle of a movie, there is a fight in a bar that involves loud club music and people being punched to the beat of the music - it is just as much fun as it sounds.
The chemistry between Tom Holland and Sophia Ali was really good.
It was a really fun watch - those in the theater seemed to have just as much fun.
Lots of cities and locations involved in the plot - the “James Bond around the world” approach.
Rating - 64/100
Best Performance - Tom Holland as Nathan Drake
Honorable Mention - Antonio Bandaras as Santiago Moncada and Sophia Ali as Chloe Frazer
Will I watch again - I would watch it again, but I probably won’t
Would I recommend - If you enjoy big budget action movies then you will have a good time watching this. Everyone else should probably steer clear.
Final Takeaways - It will be fun to see where Tom Holland goes from here. I think we will start to really lean into more dramatic/serious roles in the coming years, so we should enjoy him in movies like this while he’s still doing them. That final 20 minutes made me realize how much I would like to see him play Peter in a live action Peter Pan.