Uncharted review

A forgettable fortune

Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland in Uncharted
(Image: © Sony Pictures)

TechRadar Verdict

The best way to describe Sony’s Uncharted is to say that, in all likelihood, it is exactly the film you expect it to be. Casting missteps aside, director Ruben Fleischer delivers a perfectly harmless adventure flick that meets the low bar set by its popcorn premise. But Uncharted offers so little in the way of original ideas that many will be left wondering why the project exists in the first place. Those new to Nathan Drake and his video game exploits will find more to enjoy here than fans of the beloved PlayStation franchise, though anyone who possesses a passing familiarity with the action movie genre should prepare to leave this treasure hunt feeling no richer.

Pros

  • +

    Impressive choreography

  • +

    Charismatic, if miscast, leads

Cons

  • -

    Devoid of original ideas

  • -

    Contradictory premise

  • -

    Excessive CGI

  • -

    Uninspired script

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Uncharted feels like a movie that was always destined to disappoint. For starters, a feature-length adaptation of Naughty Dog’s immensely popular video game franchise had been the subject of Hollywood mutterings for over a decade. During that time, six different directors – including David O. Russell, Shawn Levy and Travis Knight – periodically attached and detached themselves from the project before Venom filmmaker Ruben Fleischer finally bit the bullet in 2020. 

Spider-Man star Tom Holland joined the cast in 2017, but only after Mark Wahlberg – who signed on to proceedings over a decade ago – stepped aside as the movie’s lead to instead play the wily mentor, Victor "Sully" Sullivan, to Holland’s younger Nathan “Nate” Drake. 

The intervening years saw several scripts bounce around the desks of various studios, while the cast and crew behind the still-performing Uncharted game series slalomed between endorsement, skepticism and indifference towards the seemingly cursed Hollywood project. 

So, how does the final feature fare? Well, let’s just say that Sony’s Uncharted definitely wasn’t worth the grueling odyssey it took to create it.

Amateur adventurers 

Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland in Uncharted

Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland treasure hunting in Uncharted (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

Plot-wise, Uncharted takes inspiration from the fourth game in Naughty Dog’s series, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and finds Nathan Drake on the scent of a treasure trove thought to be hidden among the remnants of a historic Portuguese expedition. With fellow explorer Sully in tow, Drake travels across the globe in search of the fortune, all the while trying to outwit a ruthless financier (Antonio Banderas) who believes the gold to be his birthright.

But we’ll come back to all that later – let’s first address the elephant in the room.

Unfortunately, Holland’s casting as Nate – the dashing virtual protagonist of every mainline Uncharted title – instantly became the unwelcome cloud hanging over this long-awaited movie adaptation. Uncharted’s fan-favorite hero is a hunky, stubble-laden adventurer with a Bond-like hardiness – Holland, through no fault of his own, is the antithesis of that description. 

It’s understandable, then, that fans of the game series voiced their doubts about the decision so intensely. To his credit, Holland reportedly gained 18 pounds of muscle (while simultaneously training for Spider-Man: No Way Home) in an effort to better match Drake’s in-game physique – and he certainly looks bigger than ever – but fears that the young British actor wouldn’t possess the same rugged charm as the famed treasure hunter were justified. 

Still, Holland attacks the role with all the energy we’ve come to expect from the superstar. He puts his choreography skills and boyish enthusiasm to excellent use in some impressive fight sequences and equally daring stunts – but he is not the Nate we know. 

Tom Holland and Sophia Ali in Uncharted

Tom Holland pursues Sophia Ali in Uncharted (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

None of that would matter, of course, if Uncharted really did center around a younger, more inexperienced protagonist at the beginning of his swashbuckling career. Rafe Lee Judkins’ script is billed as an origin story, predating the first entry in the game series (2007’s Uncharted: Drake's Fortune), that finds Nate ready to learn the tricks of the trade. But there’s very little learning done here. 

Although we first meet Holland’s character as a bartender, it doesn’t take long before he’s flipping, fighting and falling his way across various countries on a dangerous quest for lost gold. We’re supposed to believe that this is Nate’s first globe-trotting treasure hunt, yet he is often the one pointing Wahlberg’s Sully and the similarly experienced Chloe (Sophia Ali) in the right direction.

It doesn’t help, either, that the movie dances to the beat of Drake’s final video game outing. While it’s undeniably enjoyable to see Holland wear the character’s iconic henley-holster combo, it all happens far too quickly in a story that supposedly charts his origins.

And then there’s Wahlberg’s Sully. The father figure to Nate, Naughty Dog’s version of Sully is a world-weary explorer who exudes old-school charm – sometimes wise, sometimes wrong, always cool (like Paul Newman in The Color of Money). Here, though, we don’t get the same character. We don’t get the red shirt. We don’t get the mustache. Instead, we get Mark Wahlberg doing his best Mark Wahlberg impression; great for the movie’s humor, but less brilliant for the master-apprentice dynamic between its two main men.

Both leads, then – while undoubtedly charismatic and confident in their respective roles – are fatally miscast, which wouldn’t be a problem if Uncharted told a totally different story. 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained 

Tom Holland in Uncharted

Tom Holland takes to the seas in Uncharted (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

And therein lies the second dagger in the movie’s heart. Uncharted does nothing to push the boundaries of its genre nor subvert the expectations of returning fans. It borrows too much from the plot of the fourth game and recycles tired tropes from more established action franchises like Mission: Impossible and Pirates of the Caribbean. Ironically, the events of Uncharted are very charted. 

This near total absence of imagination is made worse by an over-reliance on CGI, which often takes away from Holland’s excellent stunt work – the airborne sequence, for instance, is not so much impressive as it is downright ridiculous. Even in moments where we’re encouraged to marvel at Uncharted’s beautiful locations, some obviously animated environments detract from the spectacle. 

Again, though, this seems like an inevitable plague of the project. Video game adaptations have come a long way in recent years, but dramatizing a title that already plays like a movie presents a very particular type of challenge. Uncharted 4 is a stunning video game because it lets players do the running, jumping and treasure hunting themselves – it’s nowhere near as much fun to watch Holland and Wahlberg throw goons off the side of a virtual pirate ship. 

It must be said that director Ruben Fleischer does the basics well – there is very little to criticize in Uncharted from a technical point of view – but most adult movie-goers will likely feel as though they’ve seen all of this a thousand times over. 

Our verdict

In all, then, it’s no wonder that a rocky road to production left Sony’s Uncharted movie gathering dust for over a decade. It isn’t a badly made film, per se, but the project offers almost nothing in terms of added value and contradicts itself with an over-familiar story that’s entirely at odds with its supposedly reinvented characters. 

Despite their best efforts, Uncharted’s lead actors will leave returning fans cold, and the movie’s lack of identity – save for some smartly choreographed fight scenes – makes it nothing more than mindless, harmless entertainment.

Forget the treasure; in the inevitable follow-up, Nathan Drake should hunt for some originality, instead.

Uncharted is in UK theaters now and hits US theaters on February 18.

TOPICS
Axel Metz
Phones Editor

Axel is TechRadar's UK-based Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site's Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion.  Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he then earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.

Read more
Millie Bobby Brown's Michelle armed with a paint gun while standing next to some robots in Netflix's The Electric State movie
The Electric State could have been a great Netflix sci-fi movie, but it's just more evidence that it's Marvel or bust for the Russo brothers
Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson standing in a compound's courtyard in Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World does its best to fly high, but the first Marvel movie of 2025 is the titular hero’s worst solo film so far
Spider-Man swinging next to a yellow school bus in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could have been a big swing and a miss for Marvel, but it's actually pretty amazing
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
I summoned a chimpanzee god in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and it was still only the fourth weirdest thing in the game
Two players ride dragons in Split Fiction.
Hoverboards and farting pigs: Split Fiction is shaping up to be an unhinged split-screen co-op adventure for the ages
The cover art of co-op game Split Fiction
I rode a dragon, sizzled as a sausage, and won a dance-off with a monkey in Split Fiction, and that’s not even the half of it
Latest in Entertainment
A collage of Eve Macarro in Ballerina and John Wick in his third film
New Ballerina movie trailer suggests Keanu Reeves' John Wick will have a bigger role to play in the spin-off film than we thought
McLaren’s Lando Norris leads Red Bull’s Max Verstappen driving round a bend at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix
How to watch Chinese Grand Prix 2025: TV & live streams, schedule, start time, what channel is it on?
TOLUCA, MEXICO - NOVEMBER 19: Raul Jimenez of Mexico reacts during the CONCACAF Nations League match between Mexico and Honduras at Nemesio Diez Stadium on November 19, 2024 in Toluca, Mexico. (Photo by Jonathan Mondragon/Jam Media/Getty Images)
Canada vs Mexico live stream: how to watch CONCACAF Nations League semi-final 2025 online for free today
Beibhinn Parsons #11 of Ireland races away with a rugby ball during the Ireland V Wales, Women's Six Nations Rugby match in 2024
Women’s Six Nations 2025: How to watch rugby live streams online from anywhere
Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson
How to watch Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson online and from anywhere, start time
AUSTIN, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Ricardo Pepi #9 of the United States celebrates scoring during the second half of a Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal Round leg 1 match against Trinidad and Tobago at Q2 Stadium on November 16, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
USA vs Panama live stream: watch CONCACAF Nations League semi-final 2025 online for free today, team news
Latest in Reviews
Zyxel FWA510 main image
I tried the Zyxel FWA510 - read what I thought of this WiFi router
Sophos AP6 420E main image
I tested the Sophos AP6 420E - see how this access point debut from Sophos works out
Viltrox 135mm F1.8 Lab lens for Nikon Z-mount, in the hand, attached to a Nikon Z6 II
I tested the stunning Viltrox 135mm f/1.8 LAB lens for Nikon and it’s my new favorite portrait lens, except for this one drawback
Hello from the XPPen Magic Note Pad
The XPPen Magic Note Pad is the drawing tablet-maker's first digital writing tablet and after just two weeks, I can't do without it
Scan 3XS GWP TR Ada main image
I tested the Scan 3XS GWP TR Ada - see what I thought of this incredibly powerful workstation
Poly Studio X52 with TC10 main image
I tested the Poly Studio X52 with TC10 - see what I thought of this conferencing solution