The Last Of Us Review: Pedro Pascal With Bella Ramsey Tries Sowing Seeds Of Humaneness In The Land Of Death With This Bulletproof Adaptation

Cast: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Nico Parker, Anna Torv, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett & ensemble.

Creator: Craig Mazin & Neil Druckmann

Director: Craig Mazin and team

Streaming On: Disney+ Hotstar (in India).

Language: English (with subtitles).

Runtime: 9 Episodes, Around 60 Minutes Each.

The Last Of Us Review: What’s It About:

So we saw Joel doing all he could to save Ellie, but the game turns upside down in the latter part of the show, and now the reigns are with Ellie, who has to navigate the way and keep Joel alive. Amid all this is a settlement off the radar, bonds, and new budding relations.

The Last Of Us Review: What Works:

So far, Last Of Us, created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, has been an illustrious show that managed to get labelled as one of the best feature adaptations of a video game ever. While it is and more, at the heart of it are two filmmakers with their distinctive talents and core exploring and finding humanity and humaneness in a setup that entirely goes against anything breathing life.

Now, this could be humans trying to survive and be the last ones left on a planet, slowly being consumed by a virus that kills people but also turns them into flesh eaters—a calamity walking towards a dooms day in a nutshell, which is Craig Mazin’s favourite genre. Neil, who co-creates it, is finding the heart in the world that is losing it. Both together tell a complex tale that pitches both, a catastrophe and the quest for heart against the world of the show.

The technicalities of writing led by the creators and supported by a series of directors which include Jeremy Webb (The Umbrella Academy), Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider), Peter Hoar (Daredevil, The Umbrella Academy), Liza Johnson (The Silicon Valley), and Jasmila Zbanic (Love Island), only flourishes. The story is always weighing towards Joel and how all your focus should be on his movement for the first five episodes. But they skillfully also let Ellie have her spotlight. All the shifts happen very organically, adding nuance to their budding bond.

He now sees his daughter in Ellie, and she has hooked all her hope to him. The catastrophe has made them each other’s last leaf, and that is where Craig, Neil, and the team unfold the magic of adding all the humaneness they can to a video game. In a crucial scene, Joel, who confesses that he was about to end his life after his daughter’s death, says it wasn’t time that healed him. And we all know what it was, or who it was, Ellie. There is greed around them, capitalism, the have-nots fighting a battle against the system, the dead, and an entire newly formed community in the hiding, but nothing can break them because they are together.

Last of us stays true to the game considering but even brings the iconic giraffe sequence to life. The only change it makes is giving Ellie a back story, and it does work for the benefit of the entire show. But the most potent punch is packed in the end when Joel is put on a moral compass and has to choose between telling the truth and losing Ellie and keeping her in the dark to save her and make her stay. The scene is so gut-wrenching because the entire show depends on it.

The cinematic translation of the game is so brilliant, especially how the hospital sequence in the end unfolds. The sheer dedication in taking something so robotic and turning it into a visual spectacle must be appreciated. The music makes this ride even more intriguing. How fascinating is the fact that the finale has literally too much, but it never feels overstuffed.

The Last Of Us Review: Star Performance:

Pedro Pascal might have found a position amidst the best reel-life fathers already. The actor brings out the complexities of Joel so well and with such conviction that it hits the right chord. By the finale episodes, the show acknowledges the fact that he is aging rapidly compared to his brother, who is struck in time. For a man living such a hard life, it does take a toll, and Pascal imitates that so well.

Game Of Thrones alumni Bella Ramsey is one of the most prolific teens stars the world of Television has ever seen. She gets to shine and how in the second half of the show, and she makes the most of all of that spotlight. The confusion, the arrogance used as a shield against people who could overpower her, the fear that she hides, there is so much nuance in her performance that even many adult performers can’t achieve.

The Last Of Us Review: What Doesn’t Work:

If anything bothers anyone about Last Of Us, there is enough to divert your attention towards all the good things.

The Last Of Us Review: Last Words:

Last Of Us is a shining example of how worthy adaptation of any source material can be done and with conviction. It is a show where every aspects falls in the right place and creates a spectacular product that is bulletproof.

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