There is no denying Tom Holland’s supreme agility when it comes to doing stunts, as we’ve seen in his myriad action scenes as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But according to the young actor, his opening scene in the recently released Uncharted, the live-action adaptation of the popular video game series of the same name, is the “hardest action sequence I’ve ever done.”
Spoilers ahead from Uncharted!
The scene in question is the faithful adaptation of the most memorable sequence in the video game Uncharted 3, where the hero Nathan Drake finds himself fighting the villains and their goons on a cargo plane mid-flight. The film starts off with an impressive re-enactment of the scene, as we see Tom Holland’s Nate going up against Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) and her henchmen on a plane. Suddenly, Nate is pulled out of the flying plane, as his leg gets ensnared in one of the connected boxes. And just as he manages to do the impossible task of climbing back into the plane while dodging an avalanche of bullets, a shiny red sports car throws him off the plane once again.
Recently, Tom Holland sat down for a chat with Yahoo Entertainment and unpacked the making of the high-octane action scene. For starters, the barely five-minute-long sequence took months to film, as it involved an extremely tedious process.
“We had these things called cougar arms, which are like the robotic arms you see used to make cars… and then they would attach these big boxes to the robot in a row and then they shot it vertically. So most of the sequence was shot that way so we could simulate the notion that we were flying through the air. And basically, all I had to do was hang onto these boxes and make my way up. And then we designed fight sequences with various different stunt guys throughout the route.”
But despite the ingenious setup, they had to shoot the scene with patience and care, as working with the whole construct was “very dangerous.”
“The hardest part of it was that we were shooting small pieces at a time because the way the wire work was designed with the moving machinery was obviously very dangerous. So we had to take it really slowly. It’s easily the hardest action sequence I’ve ever done, but I think it’s equally as rewarding. I haven’t seen an action sequence like this in a movie for a very long time.”
So far, the reactions of critics to the Tom Holland starrer have been lukewarm at best. But films like the Mortal Kombal reboot and Red Notice, which also failed to entice critics, became audience hits nonetheless, thus prompting the respective production houses behind the features to greenlit sequels. It remains to be seen whether Uncharted, which hit theatres today, would be able to impress viewers enough to warrant a sequel.