Uncharted Review

"Uncharted" hits theaters with the intention of becoming a saga just as prolific as its predecessor video games. And make no mistake, you will surely get it because it has all the necessary ingredients. It is currently bursting at the box office, it has been the solo leader in Spain for two weeks, helping to revitalize theaters after the covid crisis.

It's already hard to resist the temptation of watching an adventure blockbuster on the big screen, but if you're also a fan of the video game saga and you add to this the fact that several scenes from the film are shot in your hometown, then turn off and let's go.

Successful video game adaptations either crash or fail

Video games followed in the footsteps of " Tomb Raider ", although with a male lead and less wealthy. An orphan boy who, along with his brother, takes refuge in the fantasy (or not) that he descends from the great pirate Francis Drake . Little by little, Nathan Drake becomes a clever thief whose dream is to recover the pirate's great lost treasure.

Taking inspiration from something that has previously caught on (Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones ) and adding new gameplay mechanics and a good story made it almost impossible for it to fail, and it did. Today there are already thirteen games in the Uncharted saga.

Have the game mechanics of Uncharted been adapted well in the film?

The most important gameplay mechanic is Nathan's climbing ability. Passing levels is based on knowing how to climb properly and jump in the right places. Although obviously, you also have to decipher maps and enigmas, which is what a treasure hunter is for.

In the game they already explain to us that since he was a child Nathan trained his jumps with his brother to escape through the roofs of his orphanage and this has been shown in the film as a small introduction in the film, but not much more. The truth is that in the film version Nathan's climbing ability does not shine too much and they could have done more. Perhaps the only moment where it matters is the plane scene, which is also seen in the trailer, and which is a copy/tribute to a scene from Uncharted 3 . Surely they wanted to please the fans a bit on the subject.

As in all adaptations in which there are previous references, the casting choices are often heavily criticized for better or worse. Tom Holland as Nathan was surprising until the first image of him as the character was seen, and not too bad. Mark Wahlberg as Sully is perhaps more taken with tweezers because in the games he is somewhat older, but since the film is not exactly faithful to the history of the game, it is not bad either.

The walk through Spain

The blockbuster toured various parts of the Spanish geography, highlighting Barcelona and Jávea (Alicante) . The city of Barcelona has an important weight in history, with the church of Santa Maria del Pi as the protagonist and walks above and below the Gothic quarter, panoramic views of the city and a toast with Rioja, although drinking a Priorat wine would be much more appealing in Catalan lands.

What was seen in Barcelona does not disappoint, although the views and monuments could have been exploited more instead of using a Papa Jones as a great scene, but good product placement and capitalist contextualization does not bother so much in a blockbuster .

On the other hand, the plans of Jávea are spectacular. They have been used to simulate remote islands in the Philippines, where Nathan locates the ships of Magellan and Elcano. We can see the uninhabited island of Portixol in front of Cala de la Barraca or Portixol , aerial shots of boat trips between the coves of Ambolo-Granadella and the culmination in the cova dels Orguens just below Cabo de la Nao. I think it is more or less this route that they take in the film.

The best thing about the film is definitely the action scenes.

Without a doubt, the action scenes of the film are very successful and seeing them in a movie theater is very enjoyable. Above all, there is a scene that is amazing, an aerial pirate ship battle , I think that description is already appealing, so I am not going to show you images nor am I going to gut it.

Where is Ellen Fisher?

Elena Fisher is greatly missed in the film, although they will surely keep the ace up their sleeve for future installments. Elena is the main female character in video games, as many of you know. I suppose that as in the Indiana Jones movies, they have preferred to go woman by movie, and in this installment they focus on Chole Frazier, another treasure hunter, secondary in the video game saga, but with a supposed love interest.

Copy to UCM post-credits format

Sony has opted to use the same formula as Marvel, using post-credit scenes as a hook for future installments. There are actually several scenes, so don't leave the theater until the very end.