Disclaimer: This movie review is a loose transcription from our podcast where we do all our movie reviews – link is at the bottom of this page to listen in!
James:
All right, so the first topic we’re going to be talking about The Last of Us series. Now I myself have unfortunately not seen any of the episodes I’ve just been so busy I know I’ve been missing out. I’ve seen all the commentary behind it but it’s definitely a show that I will make sure I have the time to invest in it and I haven’t played the games either but Nayan has played the games he’s watched the series now. So Nayan what are your overall thoughts on The Last of Us?
Nayan:
I thought it was fantastic. It definitely broke the mold of you know, the classic video games trope, like how video game films or stuff that’s transitioned into live-action media has become shit, I think it most definitely broke that mold. It didn’t deviate from the story too much. It pretty much stayed true to the source material of the game, even going as far as scene by scene word by word which is fantastic. So it’s definitely good in terms of the game’s fan base and paying homage to them and respecting the source material. In terms of the characters and the actors/actress performances, Bella Ramsay as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel was great and portrayed their characters faithfully. I remember when Pedro Pascal got announced as portraying Joel. Everyone was like, really? but then the first scene that you see him in shows that they nailed this casting choice, he really captures the character of Joel down to a tee. Bella Ramsey on the other hand did get a bit more controversy surrounding her at casting announcement time. There probably are better actresses out there to portray Ellie but I feel like she did fantastic with her portrayal. I think she nailed it and really captured that for the persona of Ellie, you know that, defiant pottymouth kid.
James:
Yeah. Now that’s interesting. So comparing it to the game. You will still stick with the game being better in terms of storytelling.
Nayan:
Yeah just because, the game allows more time to unpack the story whereas the show only really had 9 hours less to let this story unfold, and at times some of the key moments were rushed.
James:
Yeah, so Pedro Pascal was good. Bella Ramsay was good. What about the technical side of things in terms of how it was shot and how it looks?
Nayan:
I think the cinematography was excellent. You definitely see that over the first four episodes, you can notice like, how true it has been to the game. Yeah, sort of stuff like cinematography-wise, it’s like pretty not really panel for the panel to the game scene and the way the camera captures those moments is good. The visuals for it is is good as well. They really nailed down the concept of the look and feel of the zombies from the runners to the clickers, pretty much exactly the same as what is in the game looks-wise. Even the sounds they make, especially the clickers sound exactly as they do throughout the game, and as soon as you hear it, your heart drops because you’re like, Oh, God, these characters are fucked.
James:
So with there’s obviously a score to the game. Does that translate identically are there changes to the score from the game to the show?
Nayan:
Pretty much very similar, The score in both the game and in the series is great. They really nailed it in terms of the Guitar strums string and musical pieces. That’s what The Last of Us is like, somewhat iconic. But that’s the go-to theme just a couple of slow guitar riffs here and there. Yeah, that’s what they’re brought over into the TV series, And that sounds pretty much very similar, if not exactly to what the game is. So I’m happy with the score.
James:
That’s good. So season one covers essentially the first game so is it a complete story? Does it wrap up the storyline and the character arcs?
Nayan:
Yeah the first season is basically the entire first game where you get this into nine episodes. It doesn’t quite explore every crevice of the game and some of the plot threads aren’t explored as fully as the game but that’s pretty much due to the nine-episode run. But in terms of the overall story, it’s pretty much from start to finish what the game achieved.
James:
That’s good. So obviously season two will be The Last of Us: Part II game?
Nayan:
Yeah, they are thinking of splitting that game across two seasons.
James:
Do you think they should do that?
Nayan:
Yeah I think so, the second game was a massive game. It’s a massive moment as well people are gonna lose their shit when those moments happen on screen so I think it’s a good decision to split this up into two.
James:
That’s good, man. Yeah, no, because by that point, I will have hopefully played the games or hopefully watched season one. I will watch season one. I know that. It will take a while to complete I’m sure especially since they’re going to split it. So it’s probably like two years away. 2024 Maybe the end of it or the start of 25.
Nayan:
Pretty much. Yeah, they don’t or shouldn’t want to start filming as well because they sort of need to let Bella Ramsey grow in terms of age.
James:
Is there a time jump between the first and second games? How long does it jump ahead?
Nayan:
I can’t remember off the top of my head I could be wrong I think its like between 6 to 10 years. I feel really I can’t remember off the top of my head but she’s definitely more of an adult than she is as a kid.
James:
Plenty of time for then, what you’re saying does get me excited. I really do want to check it out. So yeah, you seem to have really enjoyed it. So overall rating out of 10, what are you gonna give it?
Nayan:
I would give it a 9.2 out of 10
You can listen to the full review on our Let’s B-Reel podcast here.
