Film Review: “Uncharted”

Uncharted is a lot more fun when operating via video game controller

Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) and Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) search for a better movie.

The video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was released in November, 2007 for the Playstation console. It was an immediate hit, spawning four main series sequels and a handful of spin-offs. When Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released in 2009, chatter about a film adaptation began to take shape, since the series began earning fame for its cinematic presentation, and Among Thieves is widely considered by many to be among the best video games of all time (including me). Alas, we finally have the Uncharted film adaptation we’ve waited over a decade for, and it’s, well, meh. Much of the plot turns, action set pieces, and dialogue is inspired by, if not directly taken from, the video game series. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The film also pays fan service by sprinkling a handful of easter eggs (and a special cameo) throughout. All of this adds up to a moderately entertaining action adventure, but the best thrills are few and far between, and don’t measure up to the iconic gameplay.

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Film Review: The Current War: Director’s Cut

Knockin’ me out with those American lights: AC/DC conflict energizes, despite few flaws

Rivals George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon, l.) and Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) run into each other at the Chicago World’s Fair.

I don’t blame you if you’re confused by the phrase “Director’s Cut” above. A director’s cut of a film usually implies that an earlier, theatrically released version preceded it. But, in the case of The Current War, no, you didn’t miss a first release of this picture. It was, however, shown at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, and picked up for distribution by Harvey Weinstein’s infamous Weinstein Company. When the company folded because of Weinstein’s sexual harassment allegations, many projects were tabled and sold off. When 101 Studios eventually took hold of this title, director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon was granted permission by Martin Scorsese, the film’s executive producer, to make some changes before the film’s theatrical release. So what is opening today is a revised version of what Toronto fans saw two years ago. This version is, thankfully, shorter than the Fest original (why are films this season so long!?), and contains some reshoots. With such a complicated history behind the picture’s theatrical release, the question of course becomes: after all that, is the film worth seeing? My answer is: well, sure, although a few minor flaws keep that “sure” from being a resounding, exclamatory “Yes!!”

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Film Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming

The ultimate movie-by-committee goes for spectacular, but is less than amazing

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) gives fatherly advice to young Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Sometimes a movie has a story to tell, and sometimes it doesn’t. This movie doesn’t. It has a purpose, for sure. It has a goal in mind and it competently makes every effort to get there, and objectively, it does. Unfortunately, the goal was not to make a meaningful movie; it was simply to check all the boxes on what makes an “entertaining” one. This is a bland, corporate product that goes down easy, but is forgettable from beginning to end.

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