‘Uncharted’ Movie Review: Tom Holland Brings Too Much Spider-Man Into Nathan Drake

Uncharted delivers stale execution of a thrilling video game franchise. It throws a lot at the wall to see what sticks, ultimately lacking a cohesive vision that excites or dramatically engages. As a result, the originally charismatic duo of Nathan Drake and Sully become wooden action heroes that aren’t able to soar like their video game counterparts. Uncharted is fine popcorn movie entertainment, but it disappoints as an adaptation of its source material.

‘Uncharted’ movie brings the video game to the silver screen

Nathan (Tom Holland) is a street-smart young man who works as a bartender to pay the bills. He awaits the return of his older brother, Sam (Rudy Pankow), based on a childhood promise. One day, Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) shows up at the bar and proposes that he should help him on a treasure hunt. After all, they might run across Sam along the way.

Uncharted finds the two action heroes seeking to recover Ferdinand Magellan’s fortune that went missing 500 years ago by the House of Moncada. However, they must also work with Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) if they hope to find the treasure. They will soon discover that much more dangerous people are searching for the gold and are willing to kill anybody who gets in their way.

Director Ruben Fleischer introduces an amped-up ‘National Treasure’

The best action set pieces are pulled straight from the Uncharted video game franchise. Fleischer successfully brings the film’s biggest moments to a cinematic style that tips its hat at longtime fans. There’s something mesmerizing about watching Nathan navigate impossible scenarios from great heights to tight spaces involving intimidating foes.

Holland hits the silver screen right off his Spider-Man: No Way Home hype. He’s a great actor, although he simply doesn’t fit into the role of Nathan. He’s channeling Spider-Man/Peter Parker here in a way that fails to capture Nathan’s cool and dry-humored style. Unfortunately, Wahlberg doesn’t fare much better. He doesn’t deliver the sarcastic charisma needed for the part.

Wahlberg was initially set to play Nathan, which is a much better fit. As a result of casting misfires, Uncharted lacks the core charisma needed to pull off this video game adaptation. The screenplay rides along predictable lines and never truly establishes itself as the powerhouse feature franchise that it could be. The Uncharted franchise deserves better.

Uncharted is playing exclusively in theaters on Feb. 18.

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