Tom Holland’s Uncharted movie was controversial among fans of the video game franchise, but the debate over the movie’s casting missed the real issue. Uncharted made a few divisive calls in bringing the PlayStation franchise to the big screen. Chief among them was the decision to lower the ages of the main characters, casting Holland alongside Mark Wahlberg.
The cast of Uncharted faced scrutiny from the moment it was announced, but this was just one way that the movies altered the games in search of mass appeal. This move may have paid off, as Uncharted 2 has been confirmed after a $407.1 million box office haul. However, some fans are still upset over the casting of Nathan Drake and Sully.
Mark Wahlberg’s Casting Was The Real Problem With Uncharted, Not Tom Holland
Wahlberg’s Sully Doesn’t Gel With Holland’s Drake
Tom Holland’s casting as Nathan Drake may have taken most of the heat, but it was the decision to cast Mark Wahlberg as Sully that was the real issue with Uncharted. Holland and Wahlberg never quite settle into a natural rhythm as the two explorers, and their dynamic lacks the authentic charm that Nathan and Sully have in the games.
Wahlberg doesn’t necessarily give a bad performance as Sully. In fact, there are some great moments of levity that come from Wahlberg’s distinctive brand of no-nonsense line delivery. However, he and Holland don’t seem to have gotten the same brief, and there are only a few fleeting moments of the duo’s potential.
Sully’s casting should have been geared toward emphasizing his role as both a mentor and a friend to Nathan. This means that chemistry is vital, but it also means that Uncharted should have looked for an actor with a different comedic skillset to Wahlberg. Movies like Ted and The Other Guys show that Wahlberg can get laughs, but his character is often the butt of the joke.
Part of the appeal of the Uncharted games is the banter between Nathan and Sully, and their infectious dynamic. As much as Sully becomes a kind of father figure to Nathan, they’re also equals in the ways that they communicate and work together. Wahlberg’s Sully seems much more experienced than Nathan in the movie.
Wahlberg’s Character Was Completely Different To How Sully Is In The Games
Wahlberg Ditches Sully’s Suave Style
Uncharted shakes up the relationship between Nathan and Sully, but this is partly a result of the way that Sully’s character changes in the transition to the big screen. Through a mixture of Wahlberg’s particular style and the movie’s script, Sully seems like a completely different character in Uncharted.
In the games, Sully has enemies all over the world, but he’s still a lovable character. He even generates some begrudging respect from his professional rivals at times. This is a stark contrast to the movie, which seems to present Sully as an experienced outlaw willing to stab anyone in the back to get his hands on some treasure.
Wahlberg doesn’t display much of Sully’s inherent charisma, replacing it instead with a more blunt approach. This changes the character from a cheeky, smooth-talking rogue to a more volatile presence. He doesn’t seem like a natural partner for Nathan, much less a wise old hand to show him the ropes of a dangerous criminal underworld.
Nathan often teases Sully about his lonely life in the Uncharted movie, which underlines how different the character is from the version that appears in the games. Sully may be an individual in the games, but he has people he can rely on, and he’s much more of an adventurous scoundrel than a self-isolated grump.
The ending of Uncharted hints at a character change for Sully, as he finally values Nathan’s life over the potential of securing his fortune. This decision, paired with the sequel tease at the end of the movie, suggests that the next Uncharted movie could resemble the games a little more closely. Sully’s mustache might not be the only character trait that changes.
Tom Holland’s Different Take On Nathan Drake Worked Well For The Movie
Holland Fits The Movie’s Style Perfectly, Even If He Isn’t Accurate To The Video Games
For all the criticism levied at the casting of Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, his version of the character has plenty of perks. Of course, there are still some glaring differences between his Nathan and the one that fans are familiar with from the games, but these aren’t so much of an issue that they derail the movie.
Holland’s portrayal of the character is younger, a little more naive and more obviously heroic. A more accurate adaptation would have shown Nathan Drake to be a quick-witted scoundrel with no qualms about killing a few low-level henchmen to get what he wants. It’s clear why the movie made these changes, though.
The Uncharted games are a great example of ludonarrative dissonance – the gulf between a game’s story and its actual gameplay. Nathan Drake’s swashbuckling adventures are all about the romance of uncovering lost treasure, but the gameplay often amounts to climbing, some puzzle-solving and shooting through hordes of enemies.
If and when a sequel goes ahead, the big problem will be how his dynamic with Wahlberg evolves.
There’s obviously a lot of potential for a great movie adaptation, but a one-to-one adaptation wouldn’t work in practice. Fans have to separate Nathan’s actions in the game from his charming persona in the cut scenes, which is much harder to do in a movie.
For what the Uncharted movie is trying to achieve, Tom Holland is actually a great choice. He’s lovable enough to carry the adventure on his own, but his youthful looks suit the story of Nathan’s origins much better, and his style of comedy is more engaging for a younger version of the character. If and when a sequel goes ahead, the big problem will be how his dynamic with Wahlberg evolves.
Uncharted
4/10
- Release Date
-
February 18, 2022
- Runtime
-
116 minutes
- Director
-
Ruben Fleischer
