‘Uncharted’ Translates Acclaimed Video Game Into a Light Popcorn Escape 

Alci Rengifo

Turning a video game idea into a movie has reached the same level of difficulty as adapting a classic novel. A built-in fan base will either accept or reject the result. Audience appeal for “Uncharted” may depend on how familiar you are or are not with the acclaimed game by Sony and Naughty Boy that it’s based on. The game has gained a major following due to its impressive visuals and layered plotting. As a movie, this take by director Ruben Fleischer stands as a middle of the road action romp that has more in common with throwaway ‘90s star vehicles. At its best you get your money’s worth only when Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland punch something or someone, followed by skydives that lack parachutes.

When he was but a young lad, Nathan Drake (Holland) watched as his older brother, Sam (Rudy Pankow) escaped from an orphanage to seek adventure. Alas, Sam never returned and now Nathan works as a bartender who occasionally pickpockets a rich customer. One evening he is approached by Victor Sullivan (Wahlberg), an older, wiser thief. Sullivan reveals that he knew Sam, because both went hunting for a lost gold said to have been stashed away by Magellan during his expedition around the world. Since Sam encountered an unknown fate, now Sullivan wants Nathan to help him complete the job. The smart, younger thief agrees and off they go to steal a journal belonging to conquistador Juan Sebastián Elcano, which contains clues for reaching the treasure. They must also face off with Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), heir to a shadowy Spanish dynasty that has funded everyone from the Crusades to the fascist regime of Francisco Franco. The Moncadas also funded Magellan’s expedition 500 years ago, so they feel owed the gold. Sullivan and Nathan meet up with another treasure hunter, Chloe (Sophia Ali) in Barcelona, although none of the three trust each other. Moncada has dispatched his own deadly agent, Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), to get to the riches first and kill off the competition.

“Uncharted” feels like some kind of small movie vacation for Wahlberg and Holland to do instead of their usual, bigger extravaganzas. Fleischer, a director who likes combining action with farce in better movies like “Venom” and “Zombieland,” either lacks the interest or the budget in making “Uncharted” come close to the visual textures of its source material. Instead the strategy is to churn out another “National Treasure” with light humor and trivia the kids will certainly learn a few valuable facts from (like how Magellan didn’t actually complete his global voyage). Audiences won’t find any of the clues or map intrigue challenging. All Sullivan, Nathan and Chloe need are two gold Spanish crosses to apparently open any chamber, underground portal or treasure chest. Clues consist mainly of a few Latin phrases written around old quarters of Spain and the drawing of a tree in the Elcano journal. 

The casting of “Uncharted” has both chemistry and a lack thereof. Wahlberg and Holland are essentially asked to transplant their previous well-known roles to this universe. Wahlberg plays a version of his usual tough guy action persona, minus all the cussing, while Holland is quite literally a treasure hunter version of his Peter Parker. The dynamic between the two is the same as Parker and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” with Sullivan playing the older adventurer who treats Nathan like a kid. It’s not always convincing since Nathan is not a web-slinging high schooler, but an orphaned bartender. While the two actors do have some fun banter, Sophia Ali steals the show as the scrappy Chloe. And they all overshadow the villains, who are lazily imagined. Antonio Banderas is tasked with just standing around and uttering quick, villainous phrases with a deep voice and Tati Gabrielle, who has the perfect look for a better role, barely does anything until the third act. She beats up a few hotel security guards in an early theft sequence, then seems to pace around scenes waiting for the finale.

“Uncharted” still boasts a few skillful action sequences that almost make up for the hollow script. There’s a funny brawl between Holland and some goons during a ritzy auction. Fleischer combines laughs and suspense in one of those required scenes where Nathan and Chloe are trapped in a chamber quickly filling with water while Sullivan desperately looks for a way to help. The even more enjoyable moments that merit a big screen viewing come after the half-way point, including a skydive out of an airplane involving some crates and Holland doing a clunky, teenage imitation of Keanu Reeves’s “Point Break” jump. The grand, climactic standoff is a riveting little short film onto itself with flying Spanish galleons, sword fights and some good jokes that don’t splash into the water with the doomed henchmen.

What we have here is an adventure that isn’t terrible and not great. Two end credits scenes virtually announce that this is meant to be yet another franchise with elongated storylines. If you’re a devoted fan of the original video game then “Uncharted” will be harder to take seriously. For the non-purist, this might work as easy consumption popcorn fare. For what it’s worth this is still a better movie than last year’s curiously flat “Mortal Kombat.”  It’s an expensive mixed bag where the leads have appeal, the villains don’t and the real star is the green screen artists who can still make you believe Tom Holland doesn’t need a parachute.

“Uncharted” releases Feb. 18 in theaters nationwide.