There's Treasure but No Chemistry to be Found in 'Uncharted'

Based on the popular video game, the Sony Picture's release "Uncharted" has a lot going for it, but also fails to bring the fire it needs to start a franchise.

Starring "it" guy Tom Holland and former "it" guy Mark Wahlberg, the movie feels like it should be a slam dunk. Sort of an "Indiana Jones" meets "National Treasure" meets "Mission Impossible," this live-action version of a Playstation game has rip-roaring action and actual identifiable set-pieces, as well as a winning lead in Holland.

The problem is his co-star, and the lack of chemistry between the two.

The movie opens with a bang. Nathan Drake (Holland) wakes up in mid-air, attached to a crate that is attached to other crates that are all dangling from an airplane. After a bit of derring-do and an "almost-save," he is hit by a car sliding out of the plane that sends him flying back out into the daytime sky.

We immediately cut back fifteen years to two orphaned brothers sneaking into a museum and trying to steal a famous map that belonged to Ferdinand Magellan. Apparently, he had a stash of gold and the map tells how to find it. But the boys are separated, and they never end up reconnecting.

Cut to Nathan as a pocket-thief bartender who runs into fortune hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Wahlberg), who persuades him to come on a quest for the very gold his brother told him about years before. That's because Sully knew his brother, and knows Nathan has the smarts to help him find it. But first they need to find a golden artifact that is one of two keys needed to get more information on the location of the gold.

Yes. This is one of those movies where one clue leads to another clue that leads to another clue, all while the heroes fight bad guys that are after the same thing, precarious treasure traps, and other sorts of high-flying and death-defying roadblocks.

The two are joined by Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali), and hunted by a leather cat-suit-wearing Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), who is employed by Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas). All are after the same gold and will do anything to get it.

This is the plot of "Uncharted," which, thankfully, doesn't totally feel like a video game because it feels more like a throwback to the action-adventure movies of the '80s and '90s. Which isn't a bad thing.

The stunts and set-pieces are interesting and fun, and Holland is truly engaging in the same way Tom Cruise was back in his prime. He's funny, charming, easy on the eyes, and gives the movie his all.

The one thing that throws the whole affair off is Wahlberg. Not only does he look like he's phoning it in, he seems like he's a little irritated that Holland has more screen presence than him and is taking over the type of role he used to do. Their banter is supposed to be caustically amusing, but it comes across more like the actors really just don't like each other. That could also be an issue with editing, where a bit more of a fast back and forth cut would have heightened the humor and tickled the audience. How it is now, most of the insults and put-downs fall flat.

All to mention, Wahlberg kind of drags down the film when he's onscreen.

Ruben Fleisher ("Zombieland : Double Tab" and "Venom") directs with flair, even while over-utilizing CGI people – especially in the plane sequence. (There's even one scene that seemed like Holland had been replaced by a full CGI character, but that could have been the lighting.)

There's nothing insanely new here. It goes down easy, but it's a fine easy. You won't feel like you wasted your time because it truly is pretty fun, but it's not going to go down as a classic entry into the genre.

What it does do is chart Holland as a bona fide star, and one audiences will keep waiting in line to see.

"Uncharted" AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL APRIL 26, AND ON 4K ULTRA HD�, BLU-RAY� and DVD MAY 10