After seeing “Uncharted”, I wanted to play the game this was based off more than see the next installment in what is reportedly now a franchise. I guess you can only hope that it gets better from here.

The film tells the story of Nathan Drake (Tom Holland), a thief and a history buff, who gets recruited by Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) to find a lost treasurer related to the expedition of Magellan.

Though “Uncharted” takes inspiration from films such as “Indiana Jones“, “National Treasurer”, and “Tomb Raider”, it doesn’t capture the sense of adventure those films had and ended up reminded me more of the recent studio product, “Red Notice“. Both films seem to suffer from a similar fate, where commercial elements take precedent over the artistic, or even logical. Leading to something that feels like it was made in a test-tube after mixing in a checklist of elements that purportedly make a blockbuster.

The odd opening of this film set the tone for this. “Uncharted” begins in the middle of an action scene and then abruptly cuts to a younger version of Nathan Drake where we begin our story. I was a bit confused by this, but as the film goes on we find out that the action scene we saw was part of a much larger sequence that takes place about midway through the film. I assume this choice was made to hook the audience from the get go as the actual movie takes a bit of time to get going. However, rather than simply film another action sequence, an odd decision was made to begin with an action scene that happens later in the film. It doesn’t make much sense, but it gets the job done of grabbing your attention and is damn cost effective, which seems to be the running theme of this film.

That being said, I actually enjoyed much of the action. I thought they were fun, well-done, and ended up being the most enjoyable aspect of the film for me. I especially liked the final set-piece which was simply incredible to watch on the big screen.

Tom Holland does a fine job as Nathan Drake. I didn’t particular think he was all that convincing, but it wasn’t bad either. He has a certain likeability which got the job done. Wahlberg has some funny scenes and does a decent job. The same can be said about the rest of the cast, but no-one really stands out in my mind. There is Antonio Banderas, who plays another treasurer hunter out to find the gold, who seemed promising but is criminally underutilized.

Everything from the directing, cinematography, and music is simply fine. Nothing really stand out as interesting and nothing is particularly bad, but there is an air of mundanity throughout this entire film. It’s a film that I think had a lot of potential, especially with this cast, but it turned out to be a one time watch for me. I hope that now since the first film is off the ground and running, they can aim be a bit more adventurous.