Uncharted - From a game to a movie

Nov 4, 2022

Following fashion is not as easy as it seems. One thinks of any video game and says: “Look how simple. You take this plot, shoot a movie and everyone is so happy. Well, you see, it turns out that the matter is trickier than it seems. To begin with ‒and although those of us from the analog era don't care a bit‒, you have to be faithful to the characters in the game. And then comes the most complicated part, which is shooting a coherent, eye-catching feature film with a particular narrative dignity.

On the other hand, building success means putting together a committee in this age of franchises and long-term commercial bets. Here the individual vocation of the director or the screenwriters ceases to matter, and what counts is satisfying the requests of an abstract entity ‒the public‒ that does not want signature cuisine, but rather precooked dishes. For that reason, one watches these movies without thinking about who directed or wrote them. It only counts that they have action sequences, digital pyrotechnics, colorful settings, and a luxurious cast. Everything boils down to a pattern because the style is always the same: action thrillers with touches of comedy, a thump-thump soundtrack, epileptic montage, and a minimal plot line, which we can follow even if our neurons faint. Result? A financial success, and with any luck, the start of a string of sequels.

I admit it: I also amuse myself with this type of product. Industrial cinema has always existed and it is logical that it works like this. But when it comes to assessing films like this, I sense that they are closer to an amusement park than to the classic adventure film.

In the case of Uncharted, there is nothing that goes out of the plan. The starting point is the successful video game starring the treasure hunter Nathan Drake, played by a Tom Holland who looks the same sympathy and (almost) executes the same jumps and capers as in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). The cast is animated by an effective Mark Wahlberg as the protagonist's mentor, Victor "Sully" Sullivan, and a wasted Antonio Banderas, this time in the skin of a wicked Spanish tycoon.

Is it reasonable to ask something more from the cinematographic version of a PlayStation game? I suppose not, although I must admit that other films that play in the same league have made me happier. If we talk about recent video game adaptations, I had a better time watching Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021), and if we think about thieves and treasure hunters, I find more talent, grace, and inventiveness in Way Down (2021), by Jaume Balagueró.

Uncharted has a lot to do with Jon Turteltaub's The Quest (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, 2007) and The Quest 2: The Secret Diary (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, 2007), but it doesn't reach the same level and lacks that subtle ingredient that It's the chemistry between the actors.

Spectacular, fast-paced, and at the same time dispassionate and conventional, Uncharted revolves around loot: the treasure of Magellan, coveted by the infamous Moncada family, thanks to whose fortune (eye to detail) the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Franco regime was financed. Those who know what the Black Legend consists of will have guessed to what extent this film repeats its darkest falsehoods and clichés. Regrettable? I will not be the one to deny it. But believe me, Spanish cinema has done nothing to combat these clichés since fiction, so it is of little use to complain when Hollywood uses them.

Seen from a tourist point of view, Fleischer's film gets the protagonists to visit Barcelona where the Sagrada Familia alternates with ham, wine, flamenco, and nightlife. At least here they have a good lure for viewers to visit Spain.

Synopsis

Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) is a cunning thief recruited by veteran treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) to recover the fortune that Ferdinand Magellan amassed and that the House of Moncada lost 500 years ago. What begins as a simple robbery turns into a frantic race around the world to get hold of the loot before the ruthless Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), who is convinced that he and his family are the rightful heirs. If Nate and Sully can crack the riddles and solve one of the world's oldest mysteries, they could find a treasure worth more than five billion dollars and perhaps Nate's long-lost brother, but first, they'll have to learn teamwork.

There are millions of PlayStation gamers whose favorite characters are Nathan Drake and Victor “Sully” Sullivan and who have had amazing adventures with them through the Uncharted series of video games. In this film, viewers will see for the first time how the two join forces and how a young Nathan Drake ends up becoming a famed treasure hunter.

For director Ruben Fleischer (Venom, Zombieland) it is no secret that the Uncharted games have reached millions of players and have sold more than 44 million copies of its six installments. At the end of the day it is like a movie, but a type of movie that is no longer made. “Uncharted really captures all the magic of what I love about movies,” says Fleischer. “I've always dreamed of creating an adventure movie where you travel around the world looking for treasure. It's the kind of movie that got me interested in history and antiquity. I even considered studying archeology at university. When I read the script I distinguished the magical tone that adventure stories have. I can't believe how lucky I was when asked to be part of something so special."

"The games are very cinematic," says producer Charles Roven. “These are games that fit perfectly with an adventure movie. The places these guys go in the games have amazing visuals and endearing characters doing amazing things. It's an impressive foundation to build a movie on."

"The nice thing about having the games as inspiration for the film is that the tone is already well defined," says Fleischer. “The humor and the relationships, there is something to build on. But when you're making a movie and not a video game, you have to make it your own. It has been very important to differentiate our history from the games, to show a different aspect. I wanted to create a movie for video game fans, but one that would work as a movie first."

That is, when the games begin, the characters of Nathan Drake and Victor "Sully" Sullivan are already partners in their search for treasures. The games begin by recounting their already settled relationship, having survived numerous adventures together. In Uncharted, the filmmakers introduce the characters to the viewer and show them how they got to this point. We see Tom Holland playing a young Nathan Drake before he became the legendary treasure hunter, and Mark Wahlberg as Sully, who is in his prime.

According to Roven, the characters in the film are the characters that people who have played video games know, but before they became those people. “Nate is a bit more innocent than in the game, as he hasn't had any adventures yet,” says Roven. "And Sully just makes sure he gets what he wants, it's not really clear if he cares about anything else or not."

“I've been excited to work with Antonio Banderas,” says Holland. “At an early point in the script I didn't have any scenes with him, so I told Ruben that I couldn't bring in a guy like that and not let me act with him. That's when we add the auction house scene. It is after his encounter with Moncada that Nate understands that this is not a child's game and that no one has come to play here."

Banderas was so involved in the project that he helped find the actor who would play Santiago Moncada's father: Spanish actor Manuel de Blas. “Antonio used to go see him play Shakespeare on stage when he was young,” says Fleischer. “He has always admired her strength, but they had never worked together.”

“Cinema isn't made like that anymore,” says Tom Holland, referring to the fact that the film has always been shot on location and on sets as much as possible (instead of CG). “When you make big action movies it's normal to act with a blue screen in the background. Although in this film Ruben wanted us to be in a real, tangible place. We built the crypt and the church. The ships are real. We shot inside, and outside, and mounted them on gimbals to simulate flying. We went one step further with what can be done on a film set.”

Filming has also taken place in real locations. “We shot in Santa María del Pi, a 15th-century Gothic basilica in Barcelona, ​​which is exactly where everything in the script happens,” says Fleischer. “We place the central headquarters of Moncada in the Borne of Barcelona. They were going to convert a 19th-century market into a library, but when they discovered the foundations they found old Barcelona underneath. It is now an archaeological area protected by a 150-year-old structure. It seemed the ideal place to locate the Moncada Foundation”.

Images and synopsis copyright © Columbia Pictures, Arad Productions, Atlas Entertainment, PlayStation Productions, Sony Pictures. All rights reserved.

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