Holland gives his all as rogueish treasure hunter Nathan
Drake in a by-the-numbers PlayStation adaptation that’s heavy on spectacle but light on heart
With laser-guided precision, with the exactitude of a Nobel-winning rocket scientist or a world-class neurosurgeon, this film measures right up to what you’d expect from a movie based on a PlayStation video game. It’s a huge greenscreen action-adventure with a reasonable bang-buck ratio, but a
box office algorithm where its heart is supposed to be. It’s all about a couple of ripped guys on the trail of some lost 16th-century gold belonging to legendary explorer Ferdinand Magellan; the film cheerfully rips off Indiana Jones, the National Treasure films with Nicolas Cage, and there’s a touch of The Goonies in there somewhere.
Tom Holland has been doing some serious work with his personal trainer for his role as Nathan Drake, a tough kid with serious abs and a talent for parkour that looks like it is only partly faked with a stunt double. He is now making a few bucks as a cocktail waiter but he’s also a pickpocket, ripping off rich people in the bar – and dreaming of finding Magellan’s loot, which his adored older brother once told him about before mysteriously going missing.