Serie - The Last of Us : Our review based on the first three episodes

By Mulder, 15 january 2023

The Last of Us is an American post-apocalyptic television series created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for HBO. Based on the 2013 video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog, the series follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler tasked with escorting teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States. The cast includes Gabriel Luna as Joel's younger brother Tommy, Merle Dandridge as resistance leader Marlene, and Anna Torv as Joel's smuggling partner Tess. The Last of Us, which is the largest television production in Canadian history, was shot in Alberta from July 2021 to June 2022. It is the first HBO series to be based on a video game, and is a joint production of Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, The Mighty Mint and Word Games. The first season consists of nine episodes written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the latter having written and co-directed the game. The game's original composer, Gustavo Santaolalla, composed the music.

Every year, many new series try to sell dreams to the audience. Whether it is the presence of a luxurious cast, spectacular special effects worthy of Hollywood blockbusters or adaptations of successful books. The Last of Us series is almost a miracle when you discover the first three episodes and the strong will of the writers, co-written by Craig Mazin and Nei Druckmann, is to find the very essence of the video game that is the source of their adaptations. In the same way, at the center of the story we find perfectly mastered characters whose evolution we will follow throughout the first nine episodes that make up.

The impact of this post-apocalyptic series is all the more important as our society has spent two difficult years in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic and the number of people who have been contaminated and who have died is impressive and has changed forever our way of perceiving our future. While our society continues to disrespect our natural environment and seems to lose some of its control over events that it cannot control, this society creates a special bond with the audience and manages to capture our attention even if the first episode will remind many of zombie movies such as the excellent Dawn of the Dead (2004) especially by the introduction of mutant creatures in our usual daily life

Last of Us is not only an outstanding event series and the best live-action adaptation of a video game, it's also a new proof that series can have the same level of requirement of blockbusters relying too often on spectator special effects in the absence of a perfect scenario. Even if we find at the center of the story a parasitic fungus that has transformed most of the humans into zombies and that a tiny part of humans as in The Walking Dead must find a way to survive normally and find a cure and hope, The Last of Us is mostly the story of Joel (Perdo Pascal) a broken man who saw his only daughter die in front of his eyes and who had to separate from his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in the following years. Joel finds himself traveling across a part of the United States with a young girl, Elle (Bella Ramsey), who may hold within her the only cure that can save all of humanity. Each of the three episodes discovered places the characters at the center of the story and does not necessarily resort to the overuse of special effects yet all impressive of realism.

The third episode is a separate story that shows the great potential of this series to set up a framework in which other stories than the main one can have importance. This episode is likely to shock and move many viewers and make The Last of Us a series with a strong following and a rare emotional richness. Certainly The Last of Us will allow spectators passionate about video games, series and post-apocalyptic films to spend an excellent moment and we almost regret not having the complete season 1 now.

Synopsis:
When the world as you knew it no longer exists, when the line between good and evil becomes blurred, when death manifests itself daily, how far would you go to survive? For Joel, survival is a daily preoccupation that he manages in his own way. But when his path crosses with Ellie's, their journey across what's left of the United States will test their humanity and their will to survive.

The Last of Us
Created by Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
Based on The Last of Us by Naughty Dog
Written by Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
Starring Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey
Theme Music Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla
Composers: Gustavo Santaolalla, David Fleming
Executive Producers: Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann, Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Rose Lam
Cinematography: Eben Bolter, Nadim Carlsen, Ksenia Sereda, Christine A. Maier
Editors: Timothy Good, Mark Hartzell, Emily Mendez, Joel T. Pashby
Production companies: Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, Naughty Dog
Distributor: Warner Bros. Television Studios
Original Network: HBO (USA), Prime Video (France)
Running time: 46-81 minutes