Uncharted parents guide

Uncharted Parent Guide

Bloated and overly full of interpersonal intrigue, this movie is less than the sum of its parts.

Overall C

Theaters. Young Nathan Drake, a thief, is recruited by Sully, a treasure hunter, to find a 500 year old treasure estimated to be worth $5 billion.

Release date February 18, 2022

Violence B-
Sexual Content A
Profanity C-
Substance Use B-

Why is Uncharted rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Uncharted PG-13 for violence/action and language

Run Time: 116 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) has been on his own since he was ten, when his older brother Sam (Rudy Pankow) ran off to avoid some legal trouble. Since then, his only contact has been the occasional postcard. But Nate has better things to do than pine after his brother and has made his way as a bartender in New York with a lucrative hobby: picking pockets. This little skill soon attracts the attention of Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg), a thief on a much larger scale, who needs his help to pull off a job. Sully is seeking the lost treasure of Ferdinand Magellan’s famous crew, believed to be hidden somewhere in Barcelona. Before finding Nate, Sully had been working with Sam, who abruptly ghosted Sully after they found a diary filled with clues to the ultimate location of the gold. Eager to find the fortune and his long-lost brother, Nate signs on…but he soon learns that not everyone illegally hunting for historical relics is entirely trustworthy.

Although the individual ingredients of the film are promising, the result is somehow less than the sum of its parts. A madcap international chase for lost treasure is sure to be a good time, but the film seems incapable of sticking to a successful formula, instead indulging in long scenes of pointless interpersonal intrigue and betrayal. Those scenes could have been interesting had they not been so relentlessly predictable and detrimental to the overall plot. Mostly they just slow down the storyline so the film can bloat out to feature-length. Frankly, it would have been better were it about half an hour shorter.

I like Tom Holland, but he seems miscast as the somewhat more rugged Nathan Drake we see in the critically acclaimed video games. His boyish charm, which serves him so well as the pubescent Peter Parker in Spider-Man makes him seem unsuited to the dangers of the expedition on which he embarks and lends an unfortunately cartoonish quality to the film. I have a sneaking suspicion that the studio was more concerned with attracting the as many top tier celebrities as possible to the project, rather than casting leads who resemble their characters.

This sickly and implausible lovechild of Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and unfortunately, Fast and Furious, lurches through patches of excitement, but fails to consistently maintain a base level of entertainment. Apart from some scatological profanity and a fascination with alcohol, the film is broadly suitable for younger audiences, but will fail to captivate older ones. Unless, if course, you love watching treasure-hungry robbers carelessly destroy academically priceless centuries-old artefacts in the name of a quick buck. Then you’ll have a ball.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer. Starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali. Running time: 116 minutes. Theatrical release February 18, 2022. Updated

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Uncharted
Rating & Content Info

Why is Uncharted rated PG-13? Uncharted is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence/action and language

Violence: People are shot at, but typically not hurt. More frequently, characters are pushed or fall to their off-screen demise. There are several scenes of hand-to-hand combat. A person’s throat is cut, somehow bloodlessly.
Sexual Content: None.
Profanity: There are 29 uses of scatological profanity and occasional uses of mild curses and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters are frequently seen drinking socially.

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Uncharted Parents' Guide

How do actual archaeologists go about looking for lost relics? What are some of the biggest historical finds in recent years? How do treasure hunters like those in this film effect those pursuits? Is there any way to morally justify hoarding ancient treasures which, by all rights, belong in museums and universities? How do Western institutions treat treasures and artefacts acquired abroad? How does colonialism play a role in museum collections?

Home Video

Related home video titles:

Another film about thieves after lost treasure is The Vault, which is also set in Spain, but which has its plucky protagonists going after the treasure of Sir Francis Drake. Classic action-adventure takes on archaeology include films like Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, National Treasure, The Da Vinci Code, Jungle Cruise, The Adventures of Tintin, andThe Mummy. Another recently adapted action-adventure video game with an eye on ancient treasure is Tomb Raider. A more grounded take on archaeology is found in The Dig.