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ISSUE 20 | March 2022
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Uncharted – 3 Stars A fun, fizzy action-adventure that disperses with an attempt at being anything other than a trashy popcorn flick. ATHAN Drake (Tom Holland) is an amateur treasure hunter, who is headhunted by Sully (Mark Whalberg); a more experienced, but evidently ruthless collector of artifacts of historical significance. Turns out they’re both looking for the same thing; a hoard of treasure, rumored to be worth more than $6B, amassed by the famous explorer Ferdinand Magellan and lost 500 years ago by the House of Moncada. But they’ve got competition. Firstly, there’s Santiago Moncada himself (Antonio Banderas), who is looking to resurrect his family’s lost fortunes. Then, there’s his lethal assassin Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) and her goons, who have history with Sully. Finally, there’s Chole Frazer (Sophia Ali), an independent treasure hunter who won’t let the fizzing chemistry between her and Drake stand in the way of the gold. Based on the famous video game series, Uncharted is a film that is all about heightened action, out there visuals, and zippy one-liners in a video game-esque itemitem-item-treasure quest structure. One of the most impressive things going for this movie is it’s ability to avoid many of the pitfalls that historically have
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befallen video game adaptations. For one, it doesn’t try to cram too much lore into the piece; video games have hundreds of hours in which to develop that history and world-building, but movies have only 2 or 3. Here, Uncharted dives right into the action, and avoids the exposition dumps of
some of its ilk. Further, the film fully embraces the absolutely gonzo action of video game series. This isn’t a gritty, dark, realized take–it’s fun, colorful, and energetic. There is plenty of banter between the two leads, and Wahlberg and Holland make it feel lived in and real. This despite the fact
that they don’t really capture the personalities of the video game characters. Nevertheless, you’re likely to still find yourself laughing away throughout, with a number of genuinely funny gags. Plot wise, the movie doesn’t digress too much with explaining its reasoning, nor the attempting to bring logic to the proceedings. Sometimes, as in National Treasure, the script is painstakingly tracked to real life events, to bring a sense of reality to the treasure hunt. At other times, endless time is spent trying to justify an out there treasure that has no basis in fact, often without success. Here, the creative team just doesn’t bother too much with all of that, and the movie is more fun for it. To be fair, there are plenty of quibbles to be had with this film. Yes, it doesn’t remotely capture the games characters, or emotional pathos. Yes, the visuals at times are too comic-y, with the gold looking fake as hell. But ultimately, it’s the sort of turn your brain off film that is impossible to not have fun with.
Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com
Cyrano – 3 Stars Dinklage gives a nuanced performance that, despite his inability to match his co-stars in singing talent, brings pathos and warmth to this tragic romance. YRANO de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage), a military man with no social standing, is in love with Roxanne (Haley Bennett), the most beautiful woman in Paris. Despite being best friends since childhood, and having loved her for almost the same time, he harbors no confidence in his love with her having a future; primarily due to his physical stature. His heart is broken when he finds that Roxanne has fallen in love at first sight with Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a man she has never spoken to, only seen. As the leacherous De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn) threatens to make Roxanne his bride, and Roxanne bids our titular hero to befriend her would-be love, Cyrano decides to help Christian win her heart by writing beautiful letters, in which Cyrano simultaneously pours out his own heart, while building Christian’s bonafides in Roxanne’s eyes. In the end, it’s a treacherous situation which can have only one conclusion. The truth will out, but will it be Christian or Cyrano that Roxanne chooses (and then, only if she can disentangle herself from the villainous De Guiche). Director Joe Wright has taken a bit of a critical drubbing in recent years, with his much-maligned Pan (which we kind
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of loved anyway) following the similarly disparaged Anna Karenina. There was a recent bright spot with Darkest Hour, but The Woman In The Window, a COVID-impacted release that got shunted to Netflix for both the cinema landscape and the quality of the picture, further dented the ouevre of a man who burst out the gates with Pride & Prejudice and the brilliant Atonement. One thing that cannot be said for Wright, however, is that he plays it safe. Whether it’s the beautiful long take oneshot in Atonement, or the garish
colours of Pan, Wright swings for the fences with everything he makes, sometimes to his detriment. Cyrano, too, harkens back to a musicality of old, with a visual landscape that is gorgeous, artistic and at times OTT. There’s beauty and fantasy here for sure, but also mixed in with the grittiness we’ve come to expect from modern musical-to-screen adaptations. The caked-on makeup of De Guiche at the theatre in the opening scene is reminiscent of the grimy realness of Les Miserables, while the overlaid triptych of faces as the three leads perform a song together in flickering candlelight feels more like The Phantom of the Opera. It’s a heady mix of old and new sensibilities, that gives way to a strange feeling of dullness at times, and sheer wonder at others. From a performance perspective, Dinklage gives a nuanced, towering performance. Incredibly expressive with his face, the actor doesn’t shy away from conveying
the multitudinous emotions of his character in every action, gesture and expression. His performance can’t be matched by any in the group of assembled co-stars, and he shines by comparison. At least, that is, until he starts to sing. His vocal tones certainly leave a lot to be desired, and when compared with the operatic rest of cast, he struggles to hold his own musically. Plot-wise, the piece is crushing emotionally but engaging throughout. Interestingly, the action is quite intense and well put together, which for a musical is an achievement. Occasionally, the dancing and staging is also compelling, with Christian’s big first scene in the barracks being a standout. It’s a shame, however, that there isn’t more whimsy, more engaging and inspiring dancing, and a more ambitious visual aesthetic. Particularly from a director who so frequently swings for the fences, there are moments here that feel too safe. Then, of course, there’s also plenty of moments when you wish it would speed along so that you don’t have to listen to Dinklage sing more. Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com
