Why an Uncharted Movie is Doomed to Failure - Plot

One of the reasons why Uncharted 4: A Thief's End became so succesful was because it featured a satisfying conclusion to the adventures of Nathan Drake. It was a classic "one more job" story where a figure from the past thrusts him back into the life of adventure. Remember that second teaser with the voiceover between he and Sully? Remember the mission involving Nathan, Sam and Sully at the party? Here it is below if you don't:



Now, that mission is a key example of why the movie is doomed for failure. It's one piece of a greater whole, but it isn't any less relevant than the other missions in the game. The movie is reliant on the game series, so where would the movie's plot fit in? Would it be an interpretation of the games plots? Would it be like Assassin's Creed and just be one of many adventures set in the game series? I'll tell you what it will be, the plot will be feeling irrelevent next to the video game.

Maybe if this movie was made after Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, things would be different. The fans of the game wouldn't be asking a collective why. They're asking that now because the movie would have to have an Oscar quality plot  to compare with what Naughty Dog has given us in the game. They would have to have an amazing romantic plot to have Drake and Elena's relationship translate as well as it did on the game to screen. The twists and turns would need to be wacky, out of this world but still grounded in reality. It's hard to translate a video game into a movie, look at Doom.

But it's even harder to make a plot for a movie look comparable to the game, when that game is Uncharted. Sony isn't making a movie about Resistance or Killzone, they're making a movie about Uncharted. The game series whose amazing plot compounded with an amazing gameplay to become the best Sony had to offer. Ask yourself honestly? Do you really think a movie can do that justice?