Tag Archives: Tom Holland

My Thoughts on: Uncharted (2022)

*note: This review was originally published on Patreon in February

Against my better judgement, I went to see Uncharted, the long-gestating movie adaptation based on the video game series of the same name. Tom Holland plays treasure hunter Nathan Drake while Mark Wahlberg is his partner in crime Victor “Sully” Sullivan. The film follows the duo (and others) as they hunt down a missing fortune in gold worth billions.

Based on the mixed reviews I’d heard so far about this film, I was very worried about whether this film would be any good. However, my curiosity won out and I decided it was worth the risk to go. After all, the movie is just under 2 hours, so I figured it couldn’t be THAT bad.

Well, after sitting through the movie, I can officially report that Uncharted is nowhere near as bad as I feared it might be. While heavily flawed (I’ll get to those in a moment), the film does have some decently choreographed action moments and more than a few callbacks to the video games that I could appreciate (I haven’t played too far into the Uncharted games but I recognized a few easter eggs). The scenes where Nate and his cohorts are actively pursuing the treasure are by far the best moments in the film.

I’m also pleased to say that the film’s score is pretty decent. I also really appreciated that Nolan North (voice actor for Nathan Drake in the video games) made a cameo appearance in the movie (I won’t say where, but it’s pretty obvious when the moment comes).

Unfortunately, the good parts of the film are almost completely overshadowed by an almost criminal case of miscasting. My initial fears about this film when I saw the first trailer were unfortunately confirmed: Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland are completely miscast as Sully and Nathan Drake. Holland is clearly putting his heart and soul into the performance, I’ll give him that, but I never could quite suspend my disbelief that this young man was Nathan Drake. And Wahlberg…..ugh. I don’t know, there was something about his performance that rubbed me slightly wrong throughout. Maybe it was the constant wisecracks, or just the way the character was written for the film, but I found myself definitely not liking him for most of the story (though he did kind of grow on me by the end).

It also mortifies me to say that Antonio Banderas was criminally misused in this film, to the point where I would almost accuse the film of a bait and switch. I was so excited to see Banderas play the villain in this movie….yea that’s not quite what happened.

I wasn’t really surprised to see a sequel hook at the end of the film and as much as the flaws bothered me, I was slightly surprised to realize I wouldn’t mind seeing another Uncharted movie. After all, a second film might give the filmmakers a chance to correct the flaws of the first one.

My final thoughts on the Uncharted movie are this: I’ve seen better movies than this, but I’ve also seen much worse. If you have two hours to kill, this isn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon or evening.

Let me know what you thought about Uncharted in the comments below and have a great day!

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Soundtrack Review: Chaos Walking (2021)

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Back in April, Milan Records released Chaos Walking (Original Score) with music by Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts. Available everywhere now, the album features score music from Lionsgate’s new film starring Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland from the director of The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow. The score continues a long tradition of collaborations between the two-time Academy Award®-nominated composers Beltrami and Roberts, who also garnered an Emmy® Award together for their work on Free Solo.

Of the soundtrack, Beltrami and Roberts had the following to say:

“The score for Chaos Walking provided a unique opportunity for us to create a musical language for a fictitious world that was simultaneously both familiar and alien, and in so doing, explore crossing genres that are rarely combined. There are otherworldly sci-fi elements, as well as classic gritty western themes. We had a lot of fun implementing new instruments that would define this cross pollination. It was an adventure to live in this new musical world.”

The music for Chaos Walking is indeed a blend of the familiar and the alien and it is so much fun to listen to. Marco Beltrami has yet to let me down in any film score he has worked on, and that remains true here. It’s somewhat mind-bending to hear sci-fi music blended with classic western music, because off the top of my head that strikes me as a musical combination that should NOT work. But you know what? It works! Somehow, it all comes together and creates a sound world that is strange and new but oh so enticing for the ears.

While I appreciate that the composers have blended together music from the sci-fi and western genres, I’m still more drawn to the sci-fi elements in the score (it is my favorite genre for a reason), particularly ‘Chaos in Space’, I really like how that one track is practically vibrating with tension. Any time strings can be made to make me feel tense or uncomfortable, it’s a good day because that’s one of my favorite ways to hear those instruments being used in a score.

I’m glad I finally sat down to listen to the music for Chaos Walking. I can’t speak for the film itself, but the music is definitely worth it!

Track List

1. Main Title (2:03)
2. Love That Knife (1:41)
3. Friendship Theme (1:58)
4. Lost in the Woods (1:25)
5. Chaos in Space (1:09)
6. Thief / Gotta Tell (2:35)
7. First Encounter (1:14)
8. Motor Horse Chase (2:11)
9. Posse on the Move / Exploring the Ship (4:41)
10. Spackle Tackle (2:05)
11. Farbranch (2:02)
12. Letter From Mom (3:01)
13. Town Attack (6:52)
14. Lonely (2:09)
15. Riverbank Chase / Rapids (3:32)
16. You’re a Good Man, Todd Hewitt (1:35)
17. Preacher Attack / Antenna Climb (3:14)
18. Showdown (3:42)
19. Women Unite (2:11)
20. I Am Todd Hewitt (2:20)

Let me know what you think about Chaos Walking and its soundtrack in the comments below and have a great day!

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Film Soundtracks A-W

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Soundtrack News: Chaos Walking Soundtrack Out April 2nd

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My Thoughts on: Onward (2020)

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Onward is a film that I’ve been pretty excited about ever since it was announced because, let’s face it, in a world dominated by ongoing franchises, sequels, reboots, etc., you don’t see wholly original stories all that often. This is one such example and it lived up to pretty much all of my expectations.

The story is set in a fantasy world turned on its head. Imagine a world filled with unicorns, mermaids, elves, fairies, even manticores…but modernized. Instead of using magic, modern technology took over. Enter Ian and Barley Lightfoot (Tom Holland and Chris Pratt respectively), two brothers who have an amazing opportunity thrust upon them: the chance to be reunited with their late father for one day only. This revelation sends the brothers on an insane quest to achieve the impossible.

I’m not sure where to even start because there is so much to love about Onward. First of all, Tom Holland and Chris Pratt are fantastic together. I’ll bet anything they recorded lines together because the chemistry between the two is off the charts. Also, there’s something just inherently funny about all of these fantasy creatures living in a modern suburban environment. I know this is hardly the first story to put fantasy creatures in a modern setting, but the way Onward does it is just a lot of fun. Outside of the Lightfoot brothers, my favorite character is the Manticore, she is in one of my favorite moments in the entire film.

The setting of New Mushroomton is beautifully rendered and contains a lot of Easter Eggs. I won’t spoil any of them but there’s one pretty early in the film that made everybody in the theater laugh. Also, fans of Dungeons and Dragons will likely love this movie because one of the major plot elements is basically straight out of a D&D book (the film doesn’t call it that but the reference is obvious). And the one spoiler I will mention: the fact that all of the spells in the roleplaying book are real is just funny.

The quest, once it gets started, is mostly hilarious though (this being Disney/Pixar) there are some serious twists and turns before it’s all over. Onward deals several emotional gut punches, none of which I can discuss for spoiler reasons, but believe me when I say that you will need tissues before the end credits roll. It’s very satisfying to watch Ian and Barley grow throughout the story. The ending will probably surprise you, by the way, but I do understand why Disney/Pixar went the route they did. It’s very atypical for this kind of story, and it’s nice that the studio tried something new.

All in all, I highly recommend Onward to anyone wanting to have a good time at the movies. I would be more than willing to go see a sequel, as this is a world I very much want to visit again. Bravo to everyone who helped create such a beautiful story and bravo to Disney/Pixar for creating something original!

Let me know what you think about Onward in the comments below and have a great day!

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Animated Film Reviews

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