Naughty Dog has released some banger game titles in the past. “The Last of Us” has seen immense success as a television series. But one of their other titles is a favorite of many fans. “Uncharted” revived what can only be considered as the Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones genre of games. Intrepid explorer discovers priceless artifact that possesses unforeseen powers, etc.. So when the film starring Tom Holland (“Spider-Man“) was announced, many expected an action-packed adventure. Sadly both in performance and casting, the film just didn’t deliver. Even Holland claimed he would have played iconic character Nathan Drake differently given the chance.
Yet, despite the film’s problems, it’s apparently popular enough for producer Charles Roven to want to make a sequel.
“We had a really good time with [the first Uncharted movie],” Roven said. “The fans really liked the movie, and people who didn’t know anything about the game really liked the movie. So we are definitely looking to make another one of those.”
This feels like one of those “why?” moments. The film didn’t do terribly, but sat middle-ground at the box office. Rather than epic, it was just…okay. So why make a sequel film? The first one failed to deliver what many fans loved about the video game, and suffered from “origin story” syndrome.
Where many fans were hoping for an early-thirties Nathan Drake, whose already made a name for himself treasure hunting, we got Tom Holland. Who happened to be 26 at the time and, sadly, too baby-faced to be convincing as an Indy Jones type. Let’s keep in mind, players didn’t get to know Nate’s backstory in the games until the third and fourth games. If the movie had focused on the adventure of the first game, it’s likely to have done better. If Roven wants to make a sequel, we can assume that’s the direction he would now be taking. But the stumbling of the first film doesn’t have us holding our breath.
You can catch “Uncharted” streaming on Netflix.
