*ALERT: SPOILERS BELOW*
Making over $100 million at the box office during opening weekend, Uncharted has been an extremely successful movie worldwide. Directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, this film has attracted many viewers and positive reviews. Although it is a bit formulaic, Uncharted is a fun, action-packed movie with likable main characters who bring humor and charisma to the screen.
This film is based on the action adventure video game franchise, Uncharted, and follows two men in a high-stakes treasure hunt. Nate Drake, played by Tom Holland, is a young man who excels in pickpocketing and stealing, catching the attention of Victor Sullivan (Sully), played by Mark Wahlberg, who is searching for the missing treasure of gold. Eventually, Nate and Sully team up and work together in their efforts to find this treasure.
Tom Holland, most known for his roles in the Marvel movies as Spiderman, expanded his career by taking part in this film as it differs from the style of his other roles. In Uncharted, Tom Holland plays a greedy con artist, contrasting with Peter Parker's selflessness and charitable actions, yet his humor and charisma continue to shine in this role. Although this movie does include dark undertones and unbearable characters, the humor is a great source of comedic relief and lightens the mood. Wahlberg and Holland have great chemistry and the audience finds ways to love both of the characters, despite their flaws and greed.
These characters team up and risk everything to find what they want, even lying and betraying the people they care about. Many plot twists take place and, throughout the movie, many characters turn against each other despite their friendships. Nate, being the "rookie" of this heist, quickly learns that trust is not a common trait in this community and that his fellow characters are not reliable. The movie also reveals complicated backstories of many of the characters, including Chloe Frazer --portrayed by Sophia Taylor Ali-- a fellow treasure hunter, and reveals reasons for her trust issues.
Through the film, Nate and Sully learn more about each other, the secrets they keep, and how they fit into each others lives. With the exception of Sully, none of the characters had growth or learned a valuable lesson, contrasting many other movies. In the beginning of the film, Sully was willing to leave everyone he knows if it meant that he would get all of the rewards and wealth that he can find, without having to split it with anyone. At the end, Sully sacrificed his gold -- despite how much he went through to get it -- and saved Nate. Sully immediately implements the belief that he does not trust anyone and no one should trust him, but he develops through the movie and risks his own wealth for those he cares about. Although Sully does grow, it is frustrating to watch the characters make the same mistakes and betray the characters that the audience has grown to love.
Although this is a fun movie, the main flaw is the running time of 1 hour and 56 minutes, which was a bit too long. The middle of the movie slows down and is not as exciting as the beginning or end portions. However, for fans of action adventure movies or the two main stars, Uncharted is a lighthearted movie that I would recommend.
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