*Beware of spoilers*
A movie paying homage to one of the greatest video game series to come out in the last two decades is the 2022 film "Uncharted," starring Tom Holland (Nathan Drake), Mark Wahlberg (Victor "Sully" Sullivan), Sophia Taylor Ali (Chloe Frazier), Tati Gabrielle (Braddock), Antonio Banderas (Santiago Moncada), and Rudy Pankow (Sam Drake). The film officially hit screens on February 18th, but some fans caught early screenings on February 17th. In February 17th previews alone, "Uncharted" earned $3.7 million in the box office.
The video game known as "Uncharted" was first released in 2007 and was later followed by three sequels. The main series of games follows Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter who travels across the world to uncover various historical mysteries. The game quickly gained popularity with its very realistic graphics.
Mark Wahlberg ("Sully") noted that "the game is so cinematic, it really lens itself to being adapted to a film, so you don't have to have known the game to really enjoy the movie. This is much more along the lines of an Indiana jones type of film." The game series sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Uncharted 4, itself, sold 15 million copies making it one of Playstation 4's best selling video games to date. The film's writer, Neil Druckmann, noted that the film is a remastering of Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: Lost Legacy while putting their own spin on it. Druckmann has been working on the film since 2006, a year before the video game was released.
During an interview Wahlberg revealed that upon the conclusion of his 2010 film "The Fighter," he was offered the role of Nathan Drake but then the movie was put on hold. Now, he was considered too old for the role so they considered him for Sully instead, and ultimately casted Holland for the role of Nathan Drake.
The film picks up with the beloved high action plane sequence that fans saw in the trailer, moments before flashing back in time to a young Nathan Drake, and his older brother, Sam Drake (Rudy Pankow), trying to steal the first map of the world.
Sam and Nate end up getting caught, which ultimately results in Sam being sent away from the house the brothers were residing in. The boys were residing in a temporary home due to the loss of their parents. This would be the last time Nate would see his brother. This is also the moment when the coveted ring that Nate is gifted from Sam comes into play. Many fans were shocked to learn that Pankow was involved in the film as there was no mention of his appearance prior to the release of the movie. Pankow was also not seen in either of the trailers released prior to the film.
The film then jumps to present day with Nate as a bar tender having not seen his brother in ten years. All Nate has of his brother is post cards his brother has sent him over time which prove to be the key to the hidden treasure later on in the film. It was also revealed that Holland worked as a bar tender temporarily to learn the bar tending skills he has in the movie.
Another fun fact about the film is a cameo appearance by Nolan North, who plays Nathan Drake in the video games. North makes a comment to Nate after his fall from the well known plane scene saying, “You won’t believe me, but the exact same thing happened to me.” A nice nod for fans to the famous plane scene from Uncharted 3, which was impressively adapted into the film.
Many fans began noticing that this film could be seen as a prequel to when the video games actually take place. Lending more credence to this idea is the lack of Elena Fisher anywhere in the casting sheet, implying a prequel set before the two lovers meet.
Many hard core fans of the games will recall that Elena plays a huge role in the story line of Nathan Drake during the video game series. Another notion to this idea can be that Holland is 24-years-old whereas Nate is 30 ish in the video games leading many to believe this film is the starter story to what will become a multi-movie franchise.
This becomes even more evident in the after credit scene, Nate can be seen negotiating with a shifty villain known as Gage (played by Game of Thrones' Pilou Asbaek) who is trying to procure the adventure's famous ring. During the conversation, Gage mentions that he is brokering the deal on behalf of a man named Roman. Those who have played the first Uncharted game will know that this is a reference to the villainous Gabriel Roman, who races against Nathan and Sully to discover El Dorado. During this scene is also the first appearance of Sully's signature moustache.
On that note, the Uncharted movie serves as a quasi-prequel to the games, establishing how Nathan, Chloe and Sully all met in the first place, leading viewers to believe that if a prospective sequel came it could be a more direct adaptation of the first game.
Yet, another nod to the games was the first post credit when fans learned that Sam was, in fact, still alive. Sam was seen in jail writing a note to Nate saying "watch your back" with the voice over of Sam's voice saying "Nate- I don't know if you are receiving these, but if you are, watch your back."
When looking at where a sequel could go in terms of Sam one must consider Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, where Sam endured a similar drama, escaping prison after Nate thought he was dead. He then would reunite with his brother to find the Henry Avery treasure. However, Uncharted 4 already influenced this movie, meaning a sequel would have to take things in a different direction. Yet, this film is also meant to be looked at as a prequel to the games, so it can only be a guessing game as to where the writers will take the characters next, but it is likely to begin with who Nate and Sully ran into after the post credit concludes.
"Uncharted" is available in theaters everywhere now, and has a DVD release date estimated to be in May of 2022.
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