Despite its mixed critical reception, Uncharted still does not have the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score among Tom Holland’s body of work. The action-adventure movie follows treasure-hunting duo Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) and Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) as they retrieve the lost fortune of explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Although its source material is one of Sony’s most critically acclaimed and best-selling video game franchises, Uncharted has received terrible reviews, with critics describing it as a mediocre onscreen adaptation.
Tom Holland’s film debut was in 2012’s The Impossible. The following year, he joined the Saoirse Ronan-led cast of How I Live Now and provided his voice for a small role in the Tom Hardy vehicle Locke. Holland portrayed the young Thomas Nickerson in the historical film In the Heart of the Sea in 2015, the same year he was cast as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Peter Parker. Holland gained worldwide recognition with his trilogy of Spider-Man films and appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. He also lent his voice to animated features such as Pixar’s disappointing original movie Onward. Although the actor’s filmography is still expanding, he already has widely acclaimed successes—and a handful of critically panned films—under his belt.
Tom Holland's films have extreme ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. As of writing, Uncharted has a 40% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 5.2 out of 10 average score. Yet, the film is still not Holland’s lowest-rated on the review site—that accolade belongs to the 2020 iteration of Dolittle. The fantasy film, in which he voices the loyal lurcher Jip, has a 15% critical rating based on 238 reviews (via RT). Disappointed critics view Dolittle as a “rote adaptation” with a jumbled, dull story and unfunny comedy. Sadly, not even the ensemble cast, which is led by Holland's MCU mentor Robert Downey, Jr., can save the animal-loaded film.
Similar to Uncharted’s divisive critics and audience scores, however, Dolittle is still favored by its general viewers. In fact, the latter has a 76% rating from more than 10,000 verified fan reviews, with most of the opinion focusing on its family-friendly nature. Regardless, the fact that both Uncharted and Dolittle are adaptations of already successful franchises might be a factor in their low Rotten Tomatoes critic score. With definite source materials in mind, critics are more likely to expect something innovative and compelling from these recent projects, which they fail to provide.
Furthermore, two of Holland’s 2021 works, Chaos Walking and Cherry, obtained a low Rotten Tomatoes score. The dystopian film Chaos Walking starred Holland alongside Daisy Ridley, who portrays Palpatine’s granddaughter Rey in the Star Wars franchise. Although the leads’ performances were praised, the movie still suffered from a bungled premise and underdeveloped characters. Consequently, aside from having a 22% critic rating, the movie was also a box-office flop. Meanwhile, the Russo Brothers’ Cherry saw Holland’s character rob banks to sustain his and his wife’s opioid addiction. However, critics, who gave it a 37% rating, were frustrated by the Endgame directors’ work, and for a story based on an autofictional novel, the film was hardly believable.
On the other hand, Holland also has highly-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes. His top three films are all from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the highest being the “final” Avengers movie, Avengers: Endgame at 94%, athough his role in the grand scheme was limited. Fan-favorite Spider-Man: No Way Home follows closely with a 93% and 98% critical and audience rating, respectively, while Spider-Man: Homecoming tails behind with a 92% approval rating. While these numbers arguably show a guaranteed success in making superhero films, Tom Holland is clearly attempting to branch out of his Marvel role and accept other projects that might showcase his talent. So far, these movies’ reviews, like in Uncharted, are seemingly beyond his control, as his performances are consistently the best part of his worst movies.