Uncharted Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs

Just stick to playing the video games instead.

Uncharted Tom Holland Mark Wahlberg
Sony Pictures Releasing

After more than a decade in development, the movie adaptation of hit video game franchise Uncharted is finally, finally here.

Having cycled through numerous directors and casts since 2008, the action-adventure blockbuster ultimately came together as directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom) and starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.

It's impossible to deny that the pre-release response to the film has been wildly mixed, to be kind, with many lamenting the casting of Holland and Wahlberg as younger versions of Nathan Drake and Sully.

And indeed, while many are hoping that Uncharted might be the first video game movie to categorically obliterate their reputation for being OK-at-best, that's sadly not the case. Let's get the bad news out of the way first: this isn't a good movie, like, at all.

It's far from the worst video game adaptation out there - and by golly, there are some real duds - but it's pretty much exactly the safe, generic, unimaginative, dull tentpole the marketing suggested it was.

If you're a big Tom Holland fan or really love Uncharted far more than the average player then perhaps this'll do enough for you, but for most viewers it's likely to leave them thinking, "That all you got?"

And now we wait to see how the film performs at the box office, and whether or not it launches the multi-movie franchise Sony so desperately wants.

But first up, here's what Uncharted gets wrong...

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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.