Tonight's Movie: Uncharted (2022)

I'm back at the movies in a big way this month! In the last 11 days I've seen DEATH ON THE NILE (2022), WEST SIDE STORY (2022), and now, most recently, UNCHARTED (2022).

UNCHARTED stars Tom Holland, the engaging star of the Marvel-Disney SPIDER-MAN franchise, along with one of my favorite actors of the past decade, Mark Wahlberg.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021) has been out for over three months but is still doing well at the box office, while UNCHARTED is also off to a roaring start. Holland, the star of both films, thus gets a lot of credit for playing a key role in reviving movie-going in our post-pandemic world.

I was uncertain at first if UNCHARTED would be for me, given that it's based on a well-known video game. Our daughter assured me that my lack of familiarity wouldn't matter and that it was just an enjoyable "popcorn movie," and that proved to be the case.

Nathan Drake (Holland, played by Tiernan Jones as a child) grew up an orphan, alone in the world since his brother Sam (Rudy Pankow) ran away from the orphanage for parts unknown.

As an adult, Nathan is a bartender...and oh, yes, he's also a skilled thief and pickpocket. Due to Nathan's unusual talents, which also include a lifelong fascination with maps and legendary treasures, he's recruited by treasure hunter "Sully" Sullivan (Wahlberg) to help recover a fortune in gold lost by Ferdinand Magellan.

Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) believes his family has the right to the fortune; he works with the lethal Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) racing against Sully and Nathan in the search for the gold. Treasure hunter Chloe (Sophia Ali) is in the middle, working first with one side and then the other.

Meanwhile, Nathan is hoping to find his brother Sam, who's sent Nathan a collection of postcards over the years which seem to be connected to the treasure hunt.

In keeping with its video game roots, UNCHARTED is pretty lightweight, with little character depth or motivations beyond Nathan's searching for his brother; the movie wastes no time on deeper issues such as Nathan's lack of personal ethics vis-a-vis stealing.

Other negatives were the weakness of Banderas's role, which was quite limited and seemed fairly "phoned in"; the weirdly distracting light-on-dark hairstyle worn by actress Gabrielle; and flying scenes which are incredibly unbelievable, even for a film of this type in which the viewer willingly suspends disbelief.

The story was honestly a little too flimsy for my husband, but while I could understand his perspective, I still found it a pleasant time "at the movies." It's never dull, it made me smile regularly, it moves well with a not-too-long running time of 116 minutes, and all in all it was nice spending time with two likeable actors. And frankly I'm simply overjoyed to be seeing theatrical films regularly again, and that counts for something as well.

Whether other viewers enjoy UNCHARTED will probably depend on how high expectations are and how much the lead actors are enjoyed.

Side note: There's a cameo on a beach which left us quite confused, as the actor was clearly meant to "be" someone. Turns out it was Nolan North, who voices Nathan Drake in the Uncharted video games.

UNCHARTED was directed by Ruben Fleischer and filmed by Chung-hoon Chung.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13, mostly for language. There is some non-graphic violence. As PG-13 films go, this one is on the milder side.

A trailer is here.

Previous reviews of Mark Wahlberg films: THE ITALIAN JOB (2003), CONTRABAND (2012), TWO GUNS (2013), DEEPWATER HORIZON (2016), PATRIOTS DAY (2016), and INSTANT FAMILY (2018).

Tweet