UNCHARTED (2022)

UNCHARTED (2022)

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(Action, Adventure, Not Having A Lighter That Works) [PG-13]

In this one, a man named Sully is after a huge treasure obtained by Ferdinand Magellan, 500 years ago. 

He needs the help of his former partner’s younger brother Nathan Drake who has a ton of knowledge about lost treasures and the history behind them. They first have to recover the second of two crosses that act as keys to unlock the path to the treasure's location. Nathan decides to get involved to finish his brother’s search for the treasure, but unknown to Nathan is that others are after the treasure including a man named Santiago Moncada who believes his family is the rightful heirs to the riches of Magellan. 

First off, I am not familiar with the video games, but the movie largely serves as a prequel to the video games with some of the elements lifted from the Playstation game UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END. This movie has been in production hell for quite some time dating all the way back to 2016. Finally, we got a movie that I didn’t even know I wanted. 

Where this movie succeeds is in the execution of the realistic feeling action sequences and the careful injections of humor laced in the conversations between Sully, Nathan, and Chloe. The storyline is very much INDIANA JONES-like in nature, but I got more of the NATIONAL TREASURE feeling from this because NATIONAL TREASURE at least is set in today’s world. INDIANA JONES is mostly during the 1930s to the 1950s. 

Acting-wise I am just not a huge Mark Wahlberg (who plays Sully) fan. I don’t hate him or anything, but I think there are probably 10 other actors that could pull off his mannerisms in case he isn’t going to be in future installments should they arise. Wahlberg is probably best known for comedies but was far more likable in TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT. Tom Holland (who plays Nathan) is good in this and I really enjoyed his effort in this one. Tom Holland is best known for SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME and others. Chloe who is another person after the treasure is played by Sophia Ali. I haven’t seen any of her movies, but she reminds me a LOT of Diane Guerrero who plays Crazy Jane from the TV show DOOM PATROL. Both actresses are very good. We also have an Antonio Banderas sighting who is pretty solid as Santiago Moncada, but I prefer when he’s playing heroes like ZORO. Another stand-out was Tati Gabrielle who plays a complex character in this named Braddock. I can see Tati’s career continuing to grow, but to date, she is probably most famous for playing Gaia on the TV THE 100. 

Cinematically and soundtrack wise this thing is pretty good, but it did lack a definitive score that I think would help this series in the future. Example – you know when you are watching PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN or INDIANA JONES just hearing the score. That doesn’t seem like it’s going to be the case so far if this movie gets a series. 

After brushing all of the comparisons aside this is just a really fun, really well-done action flick that tops films like RED NOTICE and last year's NO TIME TO DIE. The action sequences are shot in a more streamlined fashion that is less “music video” and jumpy. This allows the viewer to actually follow what’s going on. We aren’t breaking our eyeballs trying to keep up for 2 hours. I really appreciated that along with the minimal profanity and low amount of onscreen blood. All of that makes this more accessible to younger audiences. 

For me, this is a very solid 7 out of 7. It would be a shame not to see more of this exciting return to the great adventure film formula of era’s past. 

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