It’s no secret that video games movies have a long and troubled history. Hollywood has had a difficult time adapting games into films, and while there’s certainly been an influx in video game movies releasing over the past few years, there haven’t been any that have been met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Based on the first trailer for the upcomingUnchartedmovie, the curse of bad video game films could be broken, and it makes sense thatUnchartedis the gaming series to do it.
Before anyone gets excited, there are still a lot of unknowns aboutwhat theUnchartedmovie will be like, but the first trailer paints a picture that looks similar to its source material. That said, fan response has been decidedly mixed, so it’s anyone’s guess at this point. Even if fans are lukewarm,Unchartedis already set up to be a solid movie based on how the games themselves were designed.
RELATED:Sony Releases The First Trailer For Uncharted Starring Tom Holland
Uncharted’s Film Inspirations
Naughty Dog has often received criticism for its games being too rigid and not allowing enough player choice. Because of how realistic the studio’s recent games have looked, many enthusiasts have compared the experience of playingtitles likeThe Last of Us 2andUncharted 4: A Thief’s Endto watching a long movie. While this is a valid criticism, it does make sense that the studio’s titles feel so much like movies based on the fact they take some pretty heavy inspiration from classic films.
While it certainly has its own identity,Unchartedis clearly inspired by theIndiana Jonesfilmsamong other series. From narratives about finding ancient treasure in lost cities to much of Nathan Drake’s personality, the two share a lot of DNA. Because of this, theUnchartedmovie should feel similar to anIndiana Jonesmovie, and the first trailer seems to have confirmed that. In fact, the trailer invokes the feeling of a lot of different adventure movies likeThe Mummy,Romancing the Stone, and the007franchise, which all seemed to have inspired the originalUnchartedgames in one way or another. It makes sense, then, why a film inspired by a game inspired by films would capture the essence of good movies.
The Star of Uncharted is the Story
TheUnchartedgames feature pretty standard third-person shooting elements with plenty of action setpieces to break things up. The games are fun to play, but they aren’t necessarily groundbreaking in terms of their mechanics. Instead,Unchartedhas always pushed the boundaries of cinematic gaming narratives. This means the series is perfectly built for a film adaptation, because the studio making a movie doesn’t need to worry about including sections of its runtime devoted to representing game mechanics.
TheUnchartedgames are already essentially action movies, so transferring the series to the silver screen seems like an easy conversion. It takes one look attheUnchartedfan film starring Nathan Fillionto see that a good script with some action and adventure is all anUnchartedfilm needs to work. The cast for this upcoming movie is solid, the action seems good, and while there isn’t much in the trailer detailing what the plot will be about, its writing seems to be on-par with the source material. All of these things point toUnchartedbeing a critically successful video game movie, but only time will tell if that’s actually the case.
Unchartedwill release in theaters on Jul 17, 2025.
MORE:Why Did The Uncharted Movie Go With A Young Nathan Drake?
