Uncharted

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Uncharted follows fortune hunters Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) and Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) as they set out to locate a fabled treasure before others can get their hands on it. It’s a familiar (yet workable) premise that’s employed to predominantly tedious effect by Fleischer, as the filmmaker, armed with Rafe Lee Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway’s screenplay, delivers a slick adventure that’s been suffused with a whole host of unappealing, by-the-numbers elements – including generic wisecracking heroes, a dull, personality-free villain, and an overuse of less-than-convincing computer-generated special effects. The movie’s arms-length feel is perpetuated by a sluggish narrative that doesn’t contain much in the way of forward momentum, to say the least, and it goes without saying that the central quest driving the action forward is hardly as compelling or intriguing as Fleischer has undoubtedly intended – which, in turn, renders the movie’s sparse assortment of exciting set-pieces moot. By the time the eye-rollingly overblown finale rolls around, Uncharted has confirmed its place as just another lackluster contemporary blockbuster that squanders a comfortably familiar setup and the efforts of its charming leads.

*1/2 out of ****