The Last of Us is generally considered a stellar achievement in storytelling, but that praise is sometimes phrased in a common derogatory warning directed at many other games: “It’s a great story–for a video game. How to bring your favorite games to prestigious television. A history of video game adaptations filled with the worst disasters and the loveliest family movies, The Last of Us proves. this is a beautiful and heartbreaking story no matter the medium the original game and HBO’s illustrious efforts, make no mistake: The Last of Us on HBO feels like the beginning of a new era for video games adapted from real people.
The post-apocalyptic television series stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) as Joel and Ellie, an unlikely duo traversing the American wasteland 20 years after the Great Depression. The fungal epidemic ravaged the world as we know it. The pair began with what was initially introduced as a cargo trip, with 14-year-old Ellie called the cargo, and focused on their relationship, as well as the relationships of others without they meet on the way. On HBO, the serious setting and broken people at the beginning of the story sit comfortably on the morally gray foundation on which prestige television has built since Tony Soprano first stepped into the office. by Dr. Melfi almost 25 years ago.
Overall, the show is very faithful to the game. As someone who’s played this game over half a dozen times, I wonder how fresh it sounds. Oftentimes, TV series deliver a scene that is almost like a copy of a game, from its dialogue to even its rhythm. In the first episode, when Sarah, Joel’s daughter, jokes with her dad that she sold “stimulants” to get money to fix his watch as a birthday present, she says it’s exactly like the way the player heard it. Then, when she wakes up in the middle of the story’s fateful first night, she calls Joel twice in the same eerie tone as her video game counterpart. I grapple with my emotions at these near-perfect reproductions every time they appear. Is it beneficial to be so loyal, and therefore largely predictable, to the millions of people who have played this game? Sometimes I like it, but other times find it distracting. Naturally, participants in the program without any experience with the game will not face this problem.
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But it didn’t take long, even in the first volume, for the series to show a willingness to pivot to accommodate the new format of the story. There are things that only video games can do, such as putting players in the role of Joel, but there are also things that only TV and The Last of Us shine brightest when it recognizes and takes advantage of. these opportunities. They’re sometimes fun changes made to surprise familiar viewers in an otherwise honest scene, but The Last of Us’s remarkable achievements on HBO come whenever the story revolves around spending long periods of time with characters other than Ellie and Joel.
Players of AAA action-adventure games sometimes don’t expect or even want a long and slow intro with characters that aren’t the focus of the game or serve another gameplay function. In a character-led drama on TV, we can take a longer dip as none of the gameplay expectations are met. Condensing some of the gunfights from 20 enemies killed in the game down to 5 in the show tells the same overarching story but gives the writer more time to devote to the excellent characters.
Each time this happens, it feels new and really adds to the whole story. The characters Joel and Ellie meet on their travels, who make brief appearances in the game are given more room for self-expression than cautionary tales for Joel’s thawing heart. Driven by brilliant writing that stays at the heart of the series’ age-old themes, these installments of the show are breathtaking and testify to the whole effort. A strictly loyal series will feel constrained and perhaps only those who haven’t played the game will enjoy it most, but these additions to the story make The Last of Us feel like it. found the best script where adaptation is both. faithful and reimagined in clever ways.
An example of extended time spent with other characters that actually consumes the entire episode, leaving the main characters almost completely abandoned. This is the best episode of the season and the one that comes to mind the most, as it shows that The Last of Us as a TV show has the power to be emotional and heartbreaking as well as beautiful and rewarding. Scary like a game. It further fuels the emerging mentality that maybe movies have never been the right format for live-action video game adaptations and television series is a much better place to take advantage of what games have to offer. After so many forgettable movies, HBO’s The Last of Us – split into about nine hours – feels almost effortless at times.
Much of that high bar can also be credited to the cast. Pascal and Ramsey as Joel and Ellie are amazing. In the first episode, I cried twice while watching Pascal perform as Joel – once you can guess if you already know the story, but the other time in a pretty basic moment when Joel is working in the background. of a truck. Pascal’s ability to transform into a character I’ve cherished for a decade is a sight to behold, sometimes to my astonishment. With great nuance, he got to portray two Joels – one before his 2003 demise and a new Joel 20 years later. A shadow of the person he would have become in the past can be seen, but as the story begins, his optimism is gone, and fatigue with the ugly world sets in and makes him as hard as sun-baked clay.
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Likewise, Ramsey has captured Ellie’s vulgar defiance and irony in a way that often becomes an element of humor on the show, even if, like the game, it’s rare in the comics. The show, just like the game, is really about these two characters and how their relationship changed over the course of several months, and the pair’s chemistry as surrogate fathers and daughters. keep what’s important from the 2013 game without feeling like they’re impressing the original actors, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker.
Because it’s HBO, the co-stars must be confused about the riches when it comes to the supporting cast. Anna Torv, Melanie Lynskey, Gabriel Luna, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, etc bring characters to life, whether you’re meeting them for the first time or looking at old polygons in new ways, keeping the series above the fold. fan drama ” Some worry about what a project like this will look like.
The show also uses much of the original and iconic music by Gustavo Santaolalla. It would be an inevitable mistake for creators to look elsewhere to set the tone, as the composer’s work has long been the perfect accompaniment to what Naughty Dog is all about. That’s still true on TV, including a great opening credit sequence that’s sure to be a hit for those who haven’t heard the song in the past decade.
I’ve said a lot, but HBO has long been a reputable standard broadcaster. If I were to make a list of the 10 best TV series ever made, almost all of them have originated on HBO in the last quarter century. I don’t think The Last of Us would make that list today, nor do I think the series is the definitive way to experience the story. It’s most powerful as an interactive experience, though I admit it’s hard for me to know for sure, without an inexperienced eye one might really need to compare them on the ground. But it really does feel like an important extension of a fictional universe that I love so much, and if it has room to grow and tell the whole story, I can see it making its way in time. top HBO shows.
I can no longer look at some of the characters in the game without recalling their more extended arcs on the show, and I think that’s both a compliment to the show and a boon to the entire property. The final game is a better way to experience The Last of Us’ story, but the retro show also makes the game even better, coloring the characters more brightly in a way that I’m happy to see. is typical for Naughty Dog games.
But the HBO adaptation doesn’t have to be better than the 2013 game, nor does it need to be better than The Sopranos or Six Feet Under. It boasts one of the best video game adaptations ever and is a clear signal that PlayStation is right in pursuing a future where video games are already famous. its reborn on TV. The show was brought to life by a cast and crew that seemed eager to live up to their own name and already brilliant reputation. It’s a formula that can be repeated in a number of other cases, and I’m eager to see how those play out. For now, though, I’m excited to see The Last of Us find new life in similarly haunting and glorious ways, while importantly remaining unique in ways I’ll never forget. .
