Marcie McCabe

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Film Review: Uncharted

Uncharted was a beautiful hero’s journey with a theme of brotherly love.

Film Summary from IMDB:

Street-smart Nathan Drake is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan, and lost 500 years ago by the House of Moncada.

Uncharted has an excellent narrative structure.
One of my favorite structures is the hero’s journey, a structure defined by Joseph Campbell in Hero with A Thousand Faces, a career long exploration into the common traits in myths throughout history and across various cultures. In the modern era, the hero’s journey has made its mark as the structure of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones (particularly Jon Snow’s character development) and it is present in Uncharted.

Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) is called to adventure by a treasure hunter Victor (Mark Wahlbergh) who is seeking a legendary fortune owned by a Spanish family Moncada. Nathan’s story starts as an orphan whose only close relation is an older brother who taught him deviant methods of theft as a child which lead him to have to abandon young Nathan because he need to escape being thrown in jail.

Uncharted hero’s journey that first starts out as a classic treasure hunt which was based on the video game Uncharted by Playstation. This story in an of itself does not seem to have much merit outside of the thrill in getting rich which for the gamer is a nice addiction. But for this story to function as a Hollywood hit it needs more human connection. As the story unfolds the viewer is lead to see that Nathan’s journey is one of love and family and that the true treasure in one’s life is the gold found in connection and love. Nathan and Victor are on a mission to discover one of the largest lost gold treasures in history. When they are met with fierce and violent competition they band together to get the job done. Nathan is met with a choice. Do I save my friend (older male brother figure) or do I go for riches? That choice is what makes him the hero of the story.

I can see this game has some awesome development and this translating into more Uncharted films in the future — as there is current several editions of Uncharted. I would hope the filmmakers continue to develop this series out. I would be very interested to see more!