Uncharted's Ending Ruined One Of The Game Series’ Biggest Reveals
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Uncharted!
The first post-credits scene attached to Sony’s Uncharted wastes one of the best reveals from the video game series. The Hollywood adaptation of the popular game series from Naughty Dog features Tom Holland as the beloved protagonist Nathan Drake, with Mark Wahlberg playing his partner Victor “Sully” Sullivan. Sophia Ali and Rudy Pankow round out the main cast of Uncharted as Chloe Frazer and Sam Drake, respectively.
Uncharted follows an original story rather than directly adapting one of the games, and is said to be set before the events of the first game in the franchise, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. While Sony is adamant that the film is canon to the game series, the movie contradicts that statement multiple times by retconning important story elements from its award-winning source material. The film deviates from the games on multiple occasions, but perhaps the most significant retcon is the one done to Sam Drake’s arc.
The film introduces Sam in a flashback sequence early on, and he is presumed dead by Nate and Sully for the rest of the film’s duration. However, the first post-credits scene reveals that Sam is still alive, albeit imprisoned, and is still trying to get in contact with Nate. This ruins one of the franchise's best reveals, as Sam being alive was not revealed until Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The movie makes the mistake of pulling the trigger on this reveal without allowing enough time to pass for it to carry any real emotional significance.
Even though the Uncharted games are known for their over-the-top action set-pieces, at their core, they tell a very personal story. One of the most emotional scenes in the game series comes when Nathan Drake finds out that his brother is still alive, after assuming that he’s been dead for decades. However, this came as a shock for the players as well, who up to that point, were not aware that Nathan had a brother in the first place.
Sam’s reveal in Uncharted 4 was masterfully done by Naughty Dog, but it felt rushed in the film. Playstation Productions' Uncharted introduces Sam, allows the audience to believe he is dead, then reveals that he’s alive all in one movie. This led to the reveal being devoid of any emotional weight, and it would have been better executed had the creative team behind the film saved it for a sequel or a trilogy capper.
Ruining Sam’s reveal was perhaps one of the contributing factors to the film’s overall negative reception. Even though it tried to differentiate itself, Uncharted committed the same mistakes that video game adaptations have become notorious for. Uncharted could not decide between following an original story and relying on the source material and ended up wasting a plot point that could have been more impactful down the line.