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Why Tom Holland's "Uncharted" Could Be The Best Video Game Adaptation Yet

Could it break the video game curse?

By Matthew BaileyPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Hopefully by now you've heard the interesting news that Tom Holland has signed on to star in Sony Pictures' upcoming film adaptation of the PlayStation franchise, Uncharted. As one of the most exciting franchises to be announced to receive a major film adaptation, fans have been waiting patiently for news about the production.

Speculations have swirled for a while since this film has had a lengthy development cycle with various directors, writers, and rumored lead actors —yet until now, nothing seemed to stick. With expectations of the film following one of the four games in the franchise, fans were expecting a mid-30s actor to fill the role of Nathan Drake.

Let's say it was a bit surprising that Tom Holland, currently 20-years-old, has been tagged to portray Nathan Drake. While the casting has been divisive, this may actually a brilliant move by Sony to finally cure the video-game-to-movie-adaptation curse.

Video game adaptations have had a rough existence over the years...

Historically speaking, we've had dozens of video game-to-film adaptations over the last 20+ years. Dating back to the infamous 1993 Super Mario Bros., video games have had a rough legacy on the silver screen. Whether you chalk it up to sub-par acting, directing, graphics, story, or any number of other reasons, video game fans have yet to find a truly magnificent adaptation on screen.

This is the video game adaptation curse, and any gaming fan can list off a dozen films that failed to match the excitement of joy that the games brought. Nearly every genre of video games has had a game or two attempt to break the curse, but up until recently, there has been no real monumental progression made in terms of figuring out how to bring video games to the theaters without sucking.

But over the course of this 20 year period of lackluster video game adaptations, we've learned a few things and made greater strides toward developing high-quality video game movies. Assassins Creed, one of the most recent adaptation, was met with a mediocre consensus of 4/10 — some critics cited that it was better made and better cast than the rating, but even with the unfavorable reviews it made great strides in attempting to figure out the key to producing a good video game movie.

How will 'Uncharted' buck the trend?

Honestly that is one of the hardest questions to answer, because for many video games, that attempt to make the transition to cinemas, there is just so much lore and backstory that there is no possible way for a production studio to truly do it justice, Warcraft being a prime example.

Games allow for quiet moments, punctuated revelations, lore-based collectibles, and a certain pacing that can sustain more than 30-hour run times. Even flat characters, like Mario, end up being easy to relate to and identify after you and the plumber spend 10 hours struggling together.

And the more deep and rich the story, the harder it is to adapt a story based on the games themselves, a few good examples would be films like:

  • Warcraft (2016)
  • Assassin's Creed (2017)
  • Street Fighter (2009)
  • In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2008)
  • Far Cry (2008)

Now, you may ask how a game like Uncharted would transition any differently than other games that have made the adaptation attempt, but the thing to remember is that it seems as though Sony is creating a unique story based on the character itself rather than the lore of the game.

This could be a brilliant move by Sony!

For most video game adaptations, the focus has tended to be based around the lore that was already predefined in the games. So to help non-gamers understand the lore of the game, they had to either attempt to explain it or ignore it — and neither worked very well. Yet Sony looks to be taking another option: create new lore.

Rising Stars And New Stories Rather Than Direct Adaptations

[Credit: Sony Pictures]

Assassin's Creed started the shift from game-based movies to movies based within the game universe, and although it had its issues we know that it's been one of the best attempts in recent years. Warner Bros.' Tomb Raider Reboot and Sony Pictures' Uncharted will be the real test as they both are primed to deliver a more narrative story that defines the characters themselves without trying to explain the games.

The upcoming Tomb Raider reboot starring Alicia Vikander is set to follow the origin story that was introduced in the 2013 game by Crystal Dynamics, while the Uncharted movie is set to tell the story of Nathan Drake before the events of the Uncharted series.

This is the key to developing a solid video game movie adaptation in my mind: create a narrative that introduces the character. Seeing as the characters themselves are often what we love about the games, it makes sense to make them the focus on the story rather than trying to explain too much of the game plot.

What do you think? Will Uncharted succeed where other game-based movies have failed?

fact or fiction
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About the Creator

Matthew Bailey

Husband. Father. Gamer. Cinema Lover. Mix it all together, and there I am. I love all things pop-culture and coffee; but coffee is the best.

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