Subscribe Make a Good Movie, Not a Video Game Movie Wahlberg and Holland’s rapport is vastly different from what we see and hear between Nolan North and Richard McGonagle in the games, but the mentor/mentee relationship is still the crux here, and Wahlberg and Holland find their own groove that’s entertaining in its own right.įinding the sweet spot between staying faithful to the source material while not being shackled to it is a difficult thing to do and typically means the difference between a good video game movie and a bad one. Nate and Sully’s relationship is the heart of the games (the first and third games at the very least), and the movie follows suit, focusing on the duo learning to work together and trust each other. It’s about spectacular set pieces, big personalities, and fast-paced action (with a little stealth sprinkled in), and the movie checks all those boxes. The core of Uncharted as a franchise is Nathan Drake and his friends going on grand adventures in search of treasure, and working out some personal issues along the way. While Uncharted deviating from the games is a good thing, the movie also stays true to what made the games so popular in the first place. Uncharted resembles the games in many ways and takes heavy inspiration from the series as a whole, but changes a few things (Nate and Sully’s age difference and dynamic, Sam’s entire portrayal) to establish a new foundation that works specifically for the big screen. Most failed video game adaptations try to stick too closely to the games’ aesthetic and story and wind up feeling second-rate. Film is a completely different medium than video games, so making changes to the plot and characters is necessary not only due to the shorter length of a film, but because it helps to set the movie apart from the games and stand alone. Uncharted takes place in a different phase of Nate’s life than the games and deviates from the original story in many ways, which was absolutely the right thing to do. For any video game adaptation, putting a charismatic star in the lead role and allowing the material to highlight what makes them special as an actor is half the battle. He’s a proven box office attraction solely based on his turn as Spider-Man in the MCU, and Uncharted benefits from letting him basically do his thing on screen. It’s key to let an actor like Holland’s natural talent shine through, because the success of the movie rides on him. Movie Nate is younger, angstier, and more mischievous than his video game counterpart, and Holland does such a good job with the role that it’s easy to forget the old Drake and accept his version as its own thing. Instead of trying to shove Holland into a Drake-shaped box, the movie version of Drake takes the idea of the original character-wise-cracking, history-obsessed thief and with serious trust issues-and alters it to cater to Holland’s strengths as an actor. He doesn’t really look, move, or talk like him, but this is all absolutely okay. In most ways, Tom Holland’s Nathan Drake doesn’t resemble the video game Drake at all. With that in mind, here are a few lessons future video game movies can learn from Uncharted. Now available to stream on Netflix, the movie captures the feeling of the games while forging its own path that could potentially lead to a sequel or two. Ruben Fleischer’s Uncharted, however, is one of the rare video game movies to actually make a successful transition from small screen to big screen. Is it better to cater to a game’s established fan base, or try to attract a more mainstream audience? Do you retell the original story or abandon it completely? Most game adaptations simply don’t have the right answers to these questions. There frankly aren’t many good ones, which can probably be attributed to the fact that the medium is so difficult to adapt.
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