The Uncharted game series launched in 2007 on PlayStation 3 with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Since then, there have been several sequels and expansions to the series, including the latest, Legacy of Thieves Collection, for the PlayStation 5 console. While I think I might have played some of the first game, I honestly can’t remember.

Would I have viewed the film differently if I’d been a big fan of the gaming series? Maybe; maybe not. Loving Mortal Kombat only seems to open me to being disappointed in the film versions. Regardless, my take on this movie comes without any of the baggage—good or bad—associated with the game franchise, and fortunately you don’t need any knowledge of the game to follow the story (though there is one Easter egg where Nolan North, who voices the Nathan Drake character in the games, has a cameo and engages with Holland on a beach.)

While working as a bartender in New York, Nathan is approached by seasoned treasure hunter Sully (Mark Wahlberg) to recover the massive treasure, estimated to be worth billions, from the lost Magellan expedition. Sully knew Nathan’s long-lost brother Sam, and thinks he might have some clue about the missing treasure. 

In the vein of The Da Vinci Code, Tomb Raider, and National Treasure, Uncharted is a buddy story about unlocking clues that lead to exotic locations, to find the next clue, that all ultimately leads to the treasure, all while staying just ahead of a group of bad guys also intent on seeking the loot. And if you’ve watched the trailers, you’ve essentially seen the big pieces of the film. 

Like a video game, Uncharted is essentially “cut scenes” that move the story along until you get to the next big action moment, and fortunately these big moments are pretty epic, entertaining, and exciting, and seem a way of showcasing Holland as a verifiable action star who demonstrates far more physicality and Parkour-style action here than when wearing the Spidey mask. Again, if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll be familiar with the airplane “escape,” the hanging lights at the auction house, and the flying ships. They try to create some relationships between the characters—especially Nathan and Sully, and also frenemy Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali)—but they really aren’t that interesting, and while the jokes and quips might work in video-game dialogue, they mostly fall short here.

Sony has repeatedly proven it knows how to deliver good-looking 4K HDR video, and fortunately Uncharted delivers on this tradition. Shot on Arri at 3.4K, there’s no information about the resolution of the digital intermediate, but images are consistently clean and sharp. While not resolving the finest details of some modern transfers, there is still plenty to appreciate in closeups, such as the rough texture of stone and rock walls, the fine stitching in a jeans jacket, or the detail in the bars of gold. Exterior scenes in Spain have beautiful white buildings with sharp, well-defined edges and terracotta roof tiles in tight, clear rows.

The HDR grade delivers both bright, punchy highlights and very natural and deep shadows during low-light scenes, producing very lifelike images. Long establishing night shots of cities always look great in 4K HDR, and New York is on full and gorgeous display here. Exteriors of the bar where Nathan works also have loads of lights at different levels, and a bar backlit through rows of liquor bottles also looks great. One scene in a cathedral is bathed in the warm and golden glow of candlelight, while another in a club is lit by garish red-orange lighting, and there are bright specular highlights of light shining off gleaming gold. 

Another scene has characters in a really dark area where Nathan lights a torch that has a bright flame. This is a bitrate torture test that can be a problem for streaming, but here it delivers a really clean image that doesn’t exhibit any banding or blocking from the varying shades of light and dark, demonstrating the strength and quality of the Kaleidescape transfer. 

You’d expect an action film like Uncharted to have a fun and immersive audio mix, and the Dolby TrueHD Atmos soundtrack delivers. There are ambient street sounds in New York like honking, cars driving, and sirens, and the score is mixed up into the height channels to create a more expansive mix. There are also the sounds of wind whipping and rushing by during the big plane scene (along with screams as people fly off and out into the corners of your room), the groaning and creaking of the old wooden ships, and the sounds of big twin-rotored helicopters lumbering and flying overhead. During one “trap,” characters are submerged in water, and your room is flooded with the sounds of rising water and the bubbling up overhead. During another there are the clear sounds of a bad guy’s boots stomping around on the ceiling overhead. Bass is also solid, deep, and weighty, delivering a tactile experience you’ll feel as much as hear. 

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, who also helmed the hilarious and creative take on zombie films with Zombieland, I hoped for a bit more originality here, or maybe something that pushed the boundaries of the typical game-franchise crossover. Uncharted isn’t a bad film; it just isn’t especially good either and offers little new or of substance. It’s like a meal at a fast-food restaurant—it might sate your hunger but doesn’t leave you satisfied.  

About halfway into watching this movie, my daughter, Lauryn, turned to my wife and I and said, “Well, it was based on a video game . . .” And that pretty much sums up Uncharted and where you should set your expectations going in. If you’re so inclined, there are two mid-credits scenes that certainly point the way toward more Uncharted adventures, so maybe our heroes will have a chance to find more stable footing going forward.