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Film, TV and Streaming

‘Uncharted’ won’t be winning any Oscars for Wahlberg, Holland

Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland star in the action-adventure “Uncharted,” playing at Durango Stadium 9. (Courtesy of IMDB)

It’s safe to say the public didn’t flock to the theater to experience the riveting story line of Ruben Fleischer’s new movie “Uncharted.” They flocked to see Tom Holland.

Fresh off the end of his contract with the Spider-Man franchise, Holland plays the role of treasure hunter Nate Drake, now off on a globe-trotting adventure to uncover a 500-year-old lost fortune of gold.

Gaming fans may appreciate that the film is loosely based on the video game franchise “Uncharted,” first released in 2007, which followed Drake and a group of treasure hunters in their quest to solve various historical mysteries. The movie brings one of the game’s story lines to life.

As a fan of Holland’s Spider-Man, I was curious to see if he’d be as successful in his next role as he was playing one of our most iconic superheroes. Did he live up to expectations? Well, yes, in the sense that he did a good job playing a cute young man with no clear purpose in life, running about doing athletic, adventurous things.

Uncharted

(Playing at Stadium 9)

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Adventure, action

Directed by: Ruben Fleischer

Written by: Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Runtime: 1 hr. 56 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 41%

In “Uncharted,” Holland as Nate, plays opposite Mark Wallberg, whose character Victor “Sully” Sullivan recruits him for an adventure. The goal? Sully wants Nate to scavenge the final tokens leading to the discovery of Spanish treasure … and search for Sully’s lost brother, who went missing after Sully’s last attempt at finding gold. A hesitant Nate agrees and off they go. Unbeknownst to Nate, Sully has a secret.

As the search progresses, Nate and Sully find they have a competitor – fanatic treasure hunter Santiago Moncada, played by aging Spanish hunk Antonio Banderas, who is motivated to find the gold of his ancestors. The conflict with Moncada results in a variety of high speed action scenes, which definitely live-up to the highest standards of today’s special effects. The most notable of the scenes takes place mid-air with Nate hanging onto cargo boxes out the end of an airplane. If you’re a fan of action movies seeking new ways for humankind to fight each other, then you will enjoy this movie.

When it comes to storyline, however, the movie falls flat. It adds nothing new to the action/adventure movie genre. Other than starring two good-looking actors sure to draw a big audience, the movie is in no way thought-provoking; it provides no new take on the “Indiana Jones” and “National Treasure” storylines. It was an entertaining two hours but not a must-see.

The best part of the movie was the onscreen chemistry of the two lead actors. Their light, witty banter carried the film and made it watchable. But a few scenes of entertaining chit-chat could not make up for the lack of character arc. Was there no character growth because the characters walked out of a mindless video game? Who knows. But there will be no Oscars for Tom and Mark.

Abby Bowman is an intern for The Durango Herald. She attends Durango High School.