Fresh off the enormous success of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland showed that he could draw audiences even away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the picture’s $395 million pales in comparison with Home’s nearly $1.9 billion, it still demonstrates Holland’s appeal and clearly pushes toward a second chapter.

Based on a series of videogames, orphaned Nate Drake (Holland) lost track of his older brother Sam (Rudy Pankow) years earlier. Now in his mid-20s, Nate works as a Manhattan bartender whose life takes a turn when he meets scheming treasure hunter Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg).

Sully claims that he knows Sam and that they can find the missing Drake while they also pursue a fortune hidden by the crew of 16th century explorer Ferdinand Magellan. As they compete with others, Nate and Sam go through a series of adventures.

I know nothing of the videogames on which they based Uncharted - heck, I wasn’t even aware the project was related to videogames until a couple days after I saw it. As such, my reaction to the film doesn't connect to feelings about the games, so none of what I say comes influenced by thoughts about how well the movie translates the source.

As a movie, Uncharted makes it clear it wants to function in the Indiana Jones vein - really, really clear. Paraphrasing lines from Raiders of the Lost Ark clear. Directly referring to the Indiana Jones character clear.

Unfortunately, Uncharted comes without a fraction of the excitement and charm of the Indiana Jones movies. Even at their worst - hello, Crystal Skull! - they still offered enough action and thrills to make them enjoyable.

On the other hand, Uncharted offers a long, slow journey to nowhere. It packs predictable plot points and flat, undeveloped characters, punctuated with action scenes that never manage a smidgen of pizzazz.

We sense zero chemistry between Holland and Wahlberger. Their attempts to bounce dialogue off each other feel like they were recorded separately and edited together, so they create a dull team at the core of the movie.

The story just feels like something Spielberg and Lucas rejected for an Indiana Jones flick as "too stupid". The characters never come across like intelligent, intrepid adventurers. Instead, they appear like lucky dopes who blunder into treasure.

Even for an intentionally ludicrous movie like this, the action scenes become ridiculous. Nate bounces off of objects like a freaking Looney Tunes characters and never even suffers a scratch.

Of course, that's semi-par for the course in this genre, but at least Raiders had the good sense to show the toll all that adventuring took on Indy. Here Nate never displays any form of even vague dismay when he crashes to the floor or gets hit by a car.

Again, I get it: no one goes to a movie like this for realism. Nonetheless, the absurdity of the way the leads suffer zero consequences despite all the damage they incur becomes too much to bear.

Of course, if I enjoyed the tale, I wouldn't care so much. If I got caught up in Uncharted, I could roll with the literal and figurative punches.

Unfortunately, nothing about this flat, generic Indiana Jones rip-off entertained me. The most excitement I found came when the end credits rolled and I could finally turn off the movie.

Footnote: a short bonus scene appears early in the end credits.

Uncharted appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a top-notch presentation.

Sharpness looked good. No issues with softness occurred, so the film felt accurate and concise.

No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge enhancement remained minor. Source flaws also failed to create problems.

In terms of colors, Uncharted went with “action-standard” orange and teal. As much as I dislike those choices, they worked fine given the stylistic choices, and a few scenes – like at clubs – broadened some.

Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows showed good delineation. Overall, this was a pleasing presentation.

Similar thoughts greeted the good DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Uncharted. I felt the soundscape delivered an involving experience in which the action scenes offered a nice sense of impact.

The film packed plenty of these elements, so we got many instances of gunfire, explosions, moving vehicles and other lively tidbits. Overall, the mix filled out the room in a satisfying manner.

Audio quality was positive. Speech came across as natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Music showed good range, and effects offered a nice sense of impact. These were the kind of loud, impressive elements one would anticipate, as they showed solid clarity. This was a very good soundtrack.

The disc includes a mix of extras, and we launch with an audio commentary from director Ruben Fleischer. He provides a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, editing and cut scenes, the impact of COVID on the production, effects, stunts and action, music and related topics.

Fleischer never makes this a particularly fascinating chat, but he covers the appropriate subjects in a reasonably complete manner. While I wish he seemed a bit less workmanlike, he nonetheless tells us a lot about the movie.

Eight Deleted & Extended Scenes span a total of 10 minutes, 23 seconds. Most tend toward minor exposition and don’t add much. A scene that expands the Nate and Chloe relationship shows promise, though.

A slew of featurettes follow, and Never a Dull Moment runs five minutes, 54 seconds. It brings info from Fleischer, producers Alex Gartner and Charles Roven, stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy, and actors Tom Holland, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle and Mark Wahlberg.

Here we get some thoughts about the movie’s stunts and action. A few useful shots from the set materialize, but most of “Moment” tends toward praise.

Becoming Nathan Drake lasts three minutes, 59 seconds and offers notes from Holland, Wahlberg, Gartner, Roven, Fleischer, executive producer Asad Qizilbash, and actor Nolan North.

We learn a little about the videogame as well as Holland’s take on the lead character. Expect more happy talk.

Next comes Villains, Backstabbers and Accomplices, four-minute, 20-second reel. It gives us comments from Gartner, Fleischer, Gabrielle, Holland, Roven, Ali, Wahlberg, and actors Antonio Banderas, Pingi Moli, and Steven Waddington.

“Villains” covers various “bad”/shady characters, cast and performances. This becomes another superficial reel.

Charting the Course occupies four minutes, 28 seconds with info from Fleischer, Gartner, Wahlberg, Holland, Roven, Banderas, Ali and Gabrielle. We learn of the director’s impact on the shoot in this fluffy chat.

After this we get The Buddy System, a three-minute, 49-second reel with Holland, Wahlberg, Fleischer, Gartner, Roven, Ali and Gabrielle. “System” deals with the Nate/Sully relationship and turns into another less than informative featurette.

Big Action Breakdown goes for five minutes, three seconds and delivers remarks from Fleischer, Gartner, Roven, Dunlevy, Ali, Holland, production designer Shepherd Frankel and special effects supervisor Uli Nefzer.

This looks at the movie’s airborne stunt scene. Though it lacks great substance, it works a bit better than its predecessors.

We also get a music video for “No Mind” by Milkblood. The two-minute, 38-second segment just mixes the song and movie clips, so don’t expect anything interesting.

Under Theatrical Marketing, we get four pieces: “Just a Little Charted” (1:36), “Bromantic” (0:57), “Harry & Tom” (1:06) and “Stunts” (0:45). The first two offer banter between Holland and Wahlberg as they sell the film.

“Tom” features Holland and his brother Harry as they discuss a crazed stunt, while “Stunts” uses Holland to promote more of that material. These are efficient but not especially interesting.

The disc opens with ads for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Morbius. No trailer for Uncharted appears here.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of the film. It includes the “Buddy System” featurette but lacks other extras – which seems ironic since Fleischer refers to his “DVD commentary” during that track.

An adventure in the Indiana Jones vein, Uncharted offers a superficial, cartoony affair that never really connects. Despite all the action on display, the movie feels contrived and oddly dull. The Blu-ray boasts excellent picture and audio along with a mix of bonus materials. Maybe the sequel will find its own identity, but Uncharted just feels like warmed over Indy.