Still Searching: Thoughts on the Uncharted Film

A few months ago there was an announcement that there would be a film adaptation of The Last of Us, arguably one of, if not the greatest video game ever created. It combined addictive gameplay, a masterfully plotted story, stunning visuals and some of the most layered and detailed characters you will find anywhere in any medium.

When Naughty Dog, the studio behind The Last of Us, went beyond and set a new benchmark, it was highly likely that someone would come along and want to make this sweep storm into a film. For me a mini-series on something like HBO would be the best way to approach this kind of adaptation, but no one is listening to me.

There is one huge question you have to ask when contemplating a The Last of Us adaptation.

Where the fuck is Nathan Drake?

In what would be undoubtedly an easier adaptation and one that offers guaranteed sequels and a regular presence in the summer blockbuster dogfights, its baffling that the often rumoured Uncharted adaptation is still nowhere to be seen. So far.

The Last of Us, is hardly a family friendly jape. It’s misery and despair wrapped in a ball and tossed down a road to an eventual horrible death.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series (go and buy a Playstation 3, all three games and book a week off work).  In the meantime, I’ll give a brief outline of what Uncharted is. At least to me.

In terms of videogames, it’s probably closest to something like Tomb Raider, it was in fact dubbed “Dude Raider” (or something close to this) on the release of the first trailer. If you were to compare it to a film, it stands pretty firmly as an updated version of Indiana Jones.

During the games, you traverse the globe, searching for some kind of treasure or lost civilization. This search is usually made a tad challenging by either being pursued by, or in a race with a mercenary or secret society, out to claim it for their own.

So let’s look at what kind of film we would get from an adaptation Uncharted. Tonally, it is a lot lighter than The Last of Us, there is a lot more humour, even if it is often sarcastic and very dry at points. The series is a reflection of Drake as a whole. Adventerous, charming witty, but also dangerous and ruthless.

The way I see it, is that it would sit somewhere between an Indiana Jones film, most likely one of the Nazi ones as their tone was just that bit more serious. Then mixing it with a modern action film like Casino Royale as Drake is very capable of getting his hands dirty, especially up close and personal.

Humour would play a significant part in the film, but not one that would tip the film into the action/comedy genre, something that the Marvel films have done, to the detriment of some of its films. Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan, Nate's older partner and the man who has essentially raised him, have a really quick 'back and forth' relationship, filled with jokes.

The obvious risk with a film like Uncharted is that it could easily turn into a CGI filled forgettable action fest. Yes, the set pieces and really big moments in the game are spectacular, the rooftop escape and train sequence in Among Thieves are two of the best you will play through anywhere, but it’s the characters that people care about. In the same way that Spielberg did with Indiana, and other clever directors have done with other big characters, sticking to practical effects is a must. Most audiences are smart enough to realise when you switch to a digital version of a character and at least for me, I check out of those moments.

A case in point, would be the Mr Smith fight in The Matrix Reloaded, the first half of it is impressive, it’s Keanu Reeves or stunt perfomer and it looks great, but when it changes to a digital Neo (yes technology has advanced), it just isn’t the same, the movement is off and there is a lack of emotional investment as a result. So if we do have lots of supernatural or cursed bad guys in the series, get out the make up and latex and leave the pixels at home.

Contrast that with The Last Crusade and the tank chase in the desert, arguably a bigger and longer set piece, yet almost all of it was practical, there is a real man hanging from the tank or jumping onto the horse. There is a connection there to the action, we know the limits. It’s this kind of direction that the Uncharted film should take.

For me, the weight and quality of any big budget film isn’t in the big action sequences, it’s when you realise the stakes and the consequences for the action and decisions that the main characters are involved. What is left of their world, if this or that happens.

When things get bleak, or we get into dark part of the film, is it severe enough, is it scary. Think of Temple of Doom, we see a man have his heart taken out, we’ve seen the fate of the slaves in the mines and what people will do keep the temples secrets undiscovered. If they don’t get out, Indy and the others will die badly or spend the rest of their lives as slaves to a cult. They are stakes that you can believe in.

I’ve talked about the series, but without its main man, this series would lose its spirit. A weird blend of John McClane, Indiana Jones and James Bond, with the seeming invincibility of Matrix (Commando). He’s a genuinely likeable guy, funny and for the most part does the right thing. But it’s in those other moments, where Drake really comes to life, the difficult decisions and realisations that he is only human and that there are somethings he just can’t do.

As with any big tentpole film based on something that already exsists, fans will wait for the inevitable announcement of will play the main character, or any character and then proceed to go crazy on messageboards and Twitter.

So just for fun, I’ll quick put forward three possible names for who could bring Nathan Drake to life.

Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt and Jake Gyllenhaal. While Cooper and Gyllenhaal are both established A-listers and would undoubtedly lend this franchise the weighty star power it would need at first, Pratt is a rising star and with this years Guardians of the Galaxy looking good so far, it wouldn’t be a stretch to someone like him, who has shown a good body of work, to grab the role.

Gyllenhaal is probably the closest physically to Drake, not that something like that should really come into consideration. If an actor gets the role and character, then give him the job. But Gyllenhaal would also bring probably the darkest interpretation of the character, especially considering the roles he has played recently and done the best work with.

Cooper, brings arguably the biggest name, at the moment and probably the most bankable too. His comedy timing, especially the more cutting stuff would fit in with the way that Drake talks and delivers some of his most memorable lines.

Each man would have their advantages and disadvantages, but luckily, there is a plethora of actors out there capable of doing the job.

I won’t throw any writers (I’m free though) or directors names forward for the job, instead I’ll talk about what would be an even more important aspect of this adaptation. The writing. It is something that Naughty Dog takes very seriously, especially as Uncharted is an on-rails experience for the most part.

As I covered earlier, it is the relationships between the core characters that is one of the series’ greatest strengths. You’re given people to care about and root for. This is something that no matter how good the gameplay is, cannot be cheated out of. Call of Duty is a pretty good first person shooter, but can you honestly say there are any characters you a deeply invested in?

Focus on the characters, the spectacle is easy, Naughty Dog have already given you three games worth off stunning set pieces. Worry about giving us real people, characters who are interesting, bring them to life like the games did.

So if you get into a conversation about The Last of Us, even if you are a fan of the idea, ask the person the question I posed earlier on. Because that is a series that deserves and would work as a film.

Where the fuck is Nathan Drake?

He’s still waiting

The Last of Us

The following review was written by Dominic Burns.

The Last of Us has been getting some high praise since its debut on the PS3 this month and it’s easy to see why. As a self confessed post apocalyptic geek and a big fan of the Uncharted series from the same developers Naughty Dog , I knew from the second I saw the announcement of this game that I was going to like it, what I underestimated was just how much.

I will try my very best to keep this spoiler free.

The story of The Last of Us revolves around two characters. Joel, a weary survivor turned smuggler who witnessed the world fall apart during the first days of an infection that destroyed civilisation by infecting people with a fungus that turned them into crazy and violent zombie like creatures and, Ellie, a 14 year old girl born into the world, post infection who, he is charged with protecting as they journey across the wasteland that the United States has become. 

The introduction to the game very quickly sets the tone, and it’s bleak... so very bleak, but this is The Last of Us’ strongest point in my opinion. The first ten minutes of the game are set before the infection, before the world falls apart. But this changes rapidly. The post apocalyptic geek in me was grinning with delight once the action started but this was soon replaced with a sense of terror and an empty feeling once the title sequence begins to play and as I watched the titles rolling in a style that draws comparison to Zack Snyders 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake I found myself wondering what this game was going to throw at me... and needless to say, it impresses.

The game isn’t just about action, about killing the zombie like creatures that plague the world. It’s very story driven and focuses on survival and what it takes to survive and also about what has been lost.  It draws parallels with The Walking Dead game, TV series and comic books, in that these too are more focused on the characters development as survivors and less on the zombies, and it makes for a much more interesting game.

The two central characters to the story, Joel and Ellie, are two of my favourite characters in gaming and it’s a joy (tinged with sadness from the situation) to watch them develop as the game progresses.  Joel is a man who has lost everything, like most people in this game world. He watched his world fall apart and lost anything and most anyone he loved. And it shows. From his weary attitude to the world around him, to his aging in the 20 years that pass since the introduction, he is a man who is broken, but surviving day to day.

Ellie is the mysterious girl he’s escorting across the States, a 14 year old girl who knows nothing of the world outside the quarantined zone (QZ) she was born into. I felt a great attachment to the two of them and cared for their wellbeing on their journey, especially when in rooms full of multiple enemies.

The development through the game is an interesting one and as mentioned leaves you as a player becoming more involved in their lives and their stories; however it is this attachment that can leave a bitter taste in the mouth with morals being called into question on more than one occasion. What’s different from most games is that you have no choice in the matter, you cannot choose the right or wrong path, you are made to watch no matter how you may feel about the matter. (Apart from one scene early on where you can choose whether or not to euthanize an injured, recently infected man.) 

It is again an interesting choice, where most games would have you press a button to determine the actions, but not in The Last of Us you’re made to watch during cutscenes, (which are crafted with cinematic quality that’s almost eerie in their ability to capture the emotion and acting talents of those involved. ) and this lends itself well to the progression (or deterioration depending on how you view their actions) of the characters when you see how far Joel, a once loving father, is willing to go to survive and ultimately for what reasons...

Watching the development of Ellie comes from her interaction with Joel and the world outside the QZ she was born in. Hearing her make passing comments at forgotten relics as you explore is common and fully believable of a person who knows nothing of record shops or houses in neighbourhoods where barbecues and other such family occasions took place, but perhaps most interesting is her turning from the 14 year old girl who throws bricks at her enemies, asking a myriad of questions at Joel, rather than to him, to the character we see in the later game.

It can be quite uncomfortable to see her developing into the killer that she needs to be to survive in the world she lives in and when Joel eventually hands her a rifle you can see the internal dilemma he has in entrusting a weapon to a 14 year old and shattering any form of innocence she may have clung on to by making her a killer.

I found myself fascinated by the world that Naughty Dog have created, the crumbled buildings, the abandoned cars littering highways and suburban streets,  all reclaimed by nature are crafted in such a way that again they are fully believable locales. From the QZ inhabited by lost souls and over watched by an overzealous military, to the abandoned cities, quarantine zones that have been lost to the infected, to small town America surrounded by foliage. They are all realised beautifully.

These locations are of course inhabited by the infected, who roam them either with the vile movements inflicted by the parasitic fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (a real, disturbing, fungus that infects insects) that’s taken control, who will spot you and run at you without a single regard for their safety, known as runners, to the more heavily infected known as clickers. These are a form of human that are so far infected the fungus has sprouted from the skulls and distorted them to the point that they are now blind and rely on echo locating clicks to listen out for and hunt their prey. The latter, truly are a terrifying enemy and ramp up the tension during the stealth sections, which is a necessity when faced with a building full of them.

Ammunition in this game is scarce at best and tends to make an awful lot of noise if used too, and one misjudged use of weaponry, be it firearms or melee will result in a quick death from these creatures. (complete with a graphic depiction of a characters death.)

Throughout the world in typical post apocalyptic gaming fashion, you will find notes from other survivors, diary entries, notes to family or friends, suicide notes and goodbyes, but unlike any other game, I found myself becoming invested in these two, spending good portions of my time playing, scouting out abandoned houses, hoping to find some clues as to what happened to their former residents, as well as finding essential supplies.

One in particular still plays on my mind, you follow one mans journey from abandoning his small boat, to setting up a refuge for fellow survivors in a sewer complex. You find notes from him and other survivors scattered around this area and I found that I cared deeply for this character through what he’d achieved and his thoughts scribbled on paper. I cared for a character in a game that I never got to meet or even see, and that to me was something special that Naughty Dog achieved.

The stealth required doesn’t feel as forced as it can do in other games, holding down R2 will focus Joels hearing, so you can pinpoint enemy locations so long as they’re moving, and will make him move more cautiously in a crouched position. It lends itself well to the style of game play. Ammunition is hard to come by and you find yourself reluctant to use your firearms. Every shot counts, a point that is hammered home when each missed shot could choose your fate.

Joel is a far cry from the one man army of Nathan Drake found in the Uncharted games. He doesn’t take 50 bullets only to return them all to sender, he doesn’t leap great distances and scale ancient ruins, he’s a Texan everyman, he’s a father and so combat in this game is far more realistic. Melee weapons come in the form of bats, pipes, machetes, but are limited in their use. They can be upgraded with nails and the like but are still limited. So every swing of your weapon, every pull of the trigger is a measured one.  

Supplies, like health kits and Molotov cocktails and even weapon upgrades are crafted by Joel using items found in the game world, and, whilst creating these vital items the game does not pause, leaving you vulnerable for precious seconds, so that health kit you’re making, could cost Joel his life. This really adds to the atmosphere of the game when you have to run from a gunfight, or dispatch a clicker silently, then craft a med kit hoping you don’t get discovered.

My one criticism is of the often illusion shattering ineptitude of the none playable characters AI in stealth. You’ll often see them running around like headless chickens in front of enemies you’re hiding from trying to find cover, thankfully they won’t be noticed, only you can alert enemies to your presence, but it still ruins the moment to see them crouched down at an enemies foot, or to have Joel say “keep quiet” only for you to hear every footstep and movement they are making.

But back to the positive.

The graphics in this game are second to none and the detail with which they have captured the faces of the actors playing their roles during cut scenes is quite eerie. During the introduction you see a range of emotions playing across their faces, from laughter to tears, they are all recreated brilliantly. It is quite an odd sensation being able to look into game characters eyes and see tears forming, from the drops welling up, to them falling down the face.

The conveyance of emotion this carries with it is stunning when you consider this is a game and shows just how much they are evolving. Combine this with the compelling story of The Last of Us, the relationship between the characters and the world in which this all resides and you have a serious art form that deserves all the praise it is receiving.  Even the soundtrack is brilliant, and sets the mood perfectly with oft single instruments wistfully playing a sorrowful melody as you scavenge long abandoned homes, that complements the setting perfectly.

The Last of Us truly is a brilliant game, and if you are a Playstation owner, you will do yourself a disservice if you do not buy this game.

Go out, pick up, and bring it home. Take care of Joel and Ellie.

Make every shot count...