{"id":841,"date":"2023-03-15T12:04:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T12:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=841"},"modified":"2024-01-04T13:52:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T13:52:54","slug":"review-the-last-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=841","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Last of Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Everyone loves a silent hero. They\u2019re tough, they\u2019re moody, they\u2019re angsty, and they\u2019ve usually got an emotional heart beating beneath their gruff fa\u00e7ade. One of those silent figures can be found in the taciturn figure of Joel Miller, the central protagonist of the Last of Us<\/em>, the 2013 video game masterpiece created by Neil Druckmann, who co-created the television series alongside Craig Mazin. If that\u2019s silent hero persona\u2019s not clear from his body language, whiskey drinking and taciturn speech in the first episode, then Tess\u2019 Clint Eastwood jibe makes that fact pretty darn clear. The cinematic nature of the game lends itself well to a production by HBO, as lavish visuals bring the apocalyptic world to vivid life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Having not actually played the game, I guess I\u2019m at a disadvantage, but it\u2019s great to watch the opening scenes unfold with a slow burner that eventually turns into chaos (and from what I\u2019ve read, the story largely stays true to the original while adding some worldbuilding of its own). It\u2019s hard to imagine how A Quiet Place<\/em> didn\u2019t take at least a bit of inspiration from the early moments. The epic, 80-minute introductory episode fully immerses us in the grisly dystopian world as we watch Joel quickly evolve from a loving father into a hardened, world-weary survivor. Pedro Pascal is perfectly cast as Joel, despite the criticism both he and Bella Ramsey (also brilliant) received shortly after their casting. This is Oberyn Martell and Lyanna Mormont we\u2019re talking about here. How were they not going to be awesome? Pascal\u2019s silent hero clearly benefits from his previous work as a laconic Mandalorian, but it\u2019s great to see him stretch his acting chops here without a helmet and alongside a human being rather than a CGI mute creature (no offence, baby Yoda).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pace is slow as we witness Joe and Ellie\u2019s journey to the fireflies, but that\u2019s not a problem, as it allows time to build their relationship as well as make room for individual character studies so we can see the world around the two in more human detail. And episode 3 provides a particularly wonderful, moving example of that. In that episode, they had me at hello, so to speak, but including Max Richter\u2019s \u2018On the Nature of Daylight\u2019 in those final moments? Goshdarn, those onions are really working their magic. And the soundtrack in general is brilliant. But that\u2019s just what you come to expect from Gustavo Santaolalla, who brought waves of emotion with his subtle strings in Brokeback Mountain<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying too much more would be spoiling to the genius of this show, which does a hell of a lot to break the video game live-action curse; I\u2019m only talking about the live-action curse here though (*cough*Halo<\/em>*cough*); if you\u2019ve seen animated shows like Arcane<\/em>, you know that curse doesn\u2019t exist, and if you want more on that, check out Chris Stuckmann\u2019s great video on the subject. But it\u2019s worth mentioning that brilliant final shootout and its genius use of sound design. In an era full to the brim with superhero movies that focus on loud explosions and irritating sound effects, it\u2019s wonderful to appreciate just how parred down these last moments are. It reminded me of a certain black and white scene in Lynne ramsay\u2019s underrated gem You Were Never Really Here<\/em>, and if you\u2019ve never seen that, I highly recommend checking it out. Brutal, moving and visually stunning, you don\u2019t want to miss out on this apocalyptic classic. I could\u2019ve made a low-quality pun there using the show\u2019s title (echoing the cheesy puns that Ellie reads from that book), but I didn\u2019t, and I hope you appreciate that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone loves a silent hero. They\u2019re tough, they\u2019re moody, they\u2019re angsty, and they\u2019ve usually got an emotional heart beating beneath their gruff fa\u00e7ade. One of those silent figures can be found in the taciturn figure of Joel Miller, the central protagonist of the Last of Us, the 2013 video game masterpiece created by Neil Druckmann, who … <\/p>\n

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