By: Brenda Haro Ramirez and Jocelyn Olmos
Spoiler Alerts!
Read on at your own risk
Ever wondered what a 21st Century Indiana Jones movie could look like? Well you're in luck because Sony proudly presents Uncharted. Uncharted came out on Friday, February 18, and grossed $100 million on its opening weekend. For long-term fans of the Uncharted game franchise, this movie was heavily anticipated. The film’s main cast stars the beloved Spider-Man Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, Mark Wahlberg as Victor “Sully” Sullivan, Sophia Taylor Ali as Chloe Frazer, and Tati Gabrielle as Jo Braddock. While Holland, Wahlberg, and Taylor Ali play characters that derive from the game franchise itself, Gabrielle plays a new character who is introduced to the audience within the first 30 minutes. This new character addition is a huge twist but nonetheless, it played out great. Uncharted takes place somewhere between the 2000s and 2010s as the real date was never confirmed in the movie. In the film, Nathan Drake and Sully meet at a bar in New York, United States, where Nathan Drake works at. Later on, the hunt for the lost treasure has led them to places in Barcelona, Spain, & the Philippines. Seeing as the Uncharted game franchise is full of action and adventure, the film’s genre is action and adventure. It takes the audience on a thrilling journey in this film adaptation of the game franchise loved by many fans.
The plot of the great adventure movie Uncharted is when Tom Holland’s character Nathan Drake is recruited by Mark Wahlberg’s character “Sully” to find 500-year-old treasure. Sully decides to recruit Nathan because Sully had previously worked with his brother, Sam Drake. Nathan had no idea that Sully knew Sam because Sam and Nathan broke apart as brothers. They broke apart because Sam was caught trying to steal a map from a museum as a kid and did not want to be put in juvenile hall and thought it was best to leave and pursue his dream of finding the treasure that the map would lead him to. For years Nathan was on his own after leaving the orphanage and the only way that Sam and Nathan kept “in touch” were through photocards that Sam would send from the places he visited while trying to find the treasure. However, Nathan and Sully are not the only people teaming up to find this lost treasure. Antonio Banderas and Tati Gabrielle’s characters, Santiago Macada and Braddock team up as well to find the treasure. Along the way Team Drake allows one more member into the hunting party, Chloe Frazer. Constantly throughout the hunt Nathan, Sully, and Chloe don’t know if they can trust one another. Ultimately it is between trust and teamwork that will lead either team to the treasure.
One aspect of this film that brings fans back to the game franchise is the costume design. First and foremost is Nathan Drake’s costume design. In the game, Nathan Drake rocks a white dirty long sleeve shirt, cargo pants, boots, a gun holster, a scarf, and a ring necklace. On the big screen, Nathan Drake’s outfit is down to every detail, except for the scarf which Nathan never wears in the film. The ring is the part of the outfit that makes Nathan Drake’s entire character. With the phrase “Sic Parvis Magna”, which translates to "Greatness From Small Beginnings", engraved onto the ring. This accessory of Nathan pays homage to his brother Sam in the film. Up next is Victor “Sully” Sullivan’s costume design. In the game, Sully is way older, has gray hair, wears button up shirts, and has a mustache. Whereas in the film, Sully is way younger, has brown hair, has no mustache, wears a jacket, and wears plenty of warm sweaters. Although Sully in the game versus in the film are not so alike in appearance, the film depicts his personality in a great way. Another costume design that was amazing to see was Chloe Frazer. Chloe Frazer in the game is always wearing a red shirt, jeans, and brown boots with her signature necklaces. However, the film traded her red shirt and jeans for a red flowy dress. This was a significant change, however the red dress, iconic necklace, and boots (that remained a part of her costume in the movie) play into Chloe’s feminine but tough side in the film. Introduced as a new character, Jo Braddock’s villainous personality can be spotted from a mile away with her dark costume design. Braddock has short white hair, dark makeup, and stylish black outfits that are a fresh new look to the franchise. With the costume design aspect, films have the great power to bring characters from games into real life and make small changes that are pleasing and appropriate to their personalities.
Along with the costume design adaptations from the game to the big screen another adaptation that was really anticipated and loved by the audience was the adaptation of Nathan Drake. There are differences between the Drake on the console and the big screen that create a story just a little different from the games. One difference is that Uncharted has 9 games in the total series. In the first game Nathan is 31 years old. In the movie Uncharted, Nathan is younger with no official age but is assumed to be in his mid 20s. Also, Nathan Drake in the video game has been in the treasure hunting world much longer than the movie’s adaptation. Nathan in the game met Sully when he was fifteen years old, that is when Nathan started getting into treasure hunting. However, in the movie Nathan barely starts getting into treasure hunting himself when he meets Sully at the age of 25. Nathan was an ordinary bartender who would pick-pocket people from time to time then all of a sudden he is traveling the world with a stranger to find treasure that he and his brother dreamed of finding. These differences make it all the more exciting to see this film because you get to see how the story could have played out differently if Nathan didn’t start looking for treasure so early on in his life.
Although not exactly like the game, this movie was definitely one of the best adventure movies and it kept people on the edge of their seats. There is action, adventure, and new friendship. There has to be trust between people in order to get what you want. Even the people on Nathan’s team do not fully trust each other. They need to learn to trust each other throughout the hunt. This movie is worth a watch, as it keeps the audience on their toes about who will do what to one another and who will get the treasure.
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