'Uncharted' review: Highly derivative, passably entertaining

A centuries-old map hanging in a museum may be the key to lost gold in "Uncharted." To find the treasure, a group of scavengers will have to steal a priceless artifact, decode clues hidden in European architecture and navigate pre-Industrial Age booby traps, all while suspecting each other of a double-cross.

"So," says one treasure hunter to another during a moment of downtime, "when did you decide to become Indiana Jones?"

Suffice it to say that "Uncharted" is not blazing new trails. Nearly every scene in this aggressively unoriginal movie has been trammeled by others before it, with the heaviest footprints coming from "National Treasure," "The Da Vinci Code" and the afore-cited "Raiders of the Lost Ark." That is not to say, however, that this adaptation — it’s based on a PlayStation game — isn’t passably entertaining. Starring a likable Tom Holland and a charming-enough Mark Wahlberg, and directed with some panache by Ruben Fleischer ("Zombieland," "Venom"), this is a fine example of an old B-movie axiom: The lower the expectations, the greater the rewards.

Holland plays Nate Drake, possibly descended from Sir Francis Drake (described here as a "pirate," though the English might disagree). As young orphans, Nate and his brother, Sam (Rudy Pankow), tried to smash-and-grab that old map, but Sam got busted and went on the lam. Flash-forward to the present: Nate’s a Boston bartender and an ultrasmooth pickpocket. Impressed by Nate’s sleight-of-hand, a mysterious mercenary named Sully (Wahlberg) offers Nate a spot on his latest expedition: To find billions of dollars of gold left by Sir Francis and his men.

Enter a slippery assassin, Braddock (an intriguing Tati Gabrielle), who works for a ruthless Spanish business owner, Moncada (Antonio Banderas, livening up several scenes). Nate and Sully also strike a deal with a competing treasure hunter, Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali). As the three heroes work warily together and try to outfox each other, "Uncharted" attempts to become a cat-and-mouse thriller, with mixed results. Still, what the movie lacks in depth (emotional or otherwise) it makes up for with elaborate sets, real locations (Barcelona, for instance) and expensive-looking special effects.

A minor spoiler: "Uncharted" ends with not one but two closing-credit scenes that suggest a sequel. I personally wouldn’t bet on that, but here’s another axiom in the movies: You just never know.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com